By Margherita Cole on January 15, 2021
“Eternity,” natural beeswax, wood, glass, Cor-ten steel, 2019-20. (Photo: Titia Hahne)
The
bust of Nefertiti commemorates one of the most famous figures of Ancient Egypt, who reined alongside the pharaoh Akenaten during a tumultuous religious upheaval. Inspired by the long-lasting legacy of this monumental sculpture, the Netherlands-based artist Tomáš Libertíny spent two years building a “new queen.” He began by constructing a 3D model of the original bust before introducing the assistance of 60,000 bees which brought the piece to life.
“The two-year-long process had two stages,” Libertíny explains to My Modern Met. “First, it was shown at Kunsthal in Rotterdam in the summer of 2019 as a live installation where visitors had the chance to observe the process of bees building the artwork at the museum.” During this time, the bee colony