Guardians of Time (art)
installation by Manfred Kielnhofer
The Guardians of Time is an art project of the Austrian sculptor Manfred Kielnhofer.
Idea and history
The Guardians of Time were developed by the artist Manfred Kielnhofer. Kielnhofer has always been interested in the human being as a model and potential source of danger, and believes that mankind is watched and protected by strange characters.
In 2006 he created the first life-size Time Guardians for the Skulpturenpark Artpark in Linz – a piece that resembles an assembly of monks. Over the years, he placed his "Time Guardians" in public places such as ancient castles, squares, old mines, or parks. Kielnhofer's art explores the human desire for security and reflects genuine exploration of the current historic moods and sensibilities.
In 2012, Kielnhofer designed the "Mini guards" as a limited edition made out of plastic in various colors that can be illuminated from within. One was ordered by Peter Weibel for the ZKM in 2012. The Guardians of Time settled in during Art Dubai 2013 and the first cast bronze guardian was made by the art foundry Krismer. In 2014, ancient giant people statues were shown at both the Festival of Lights in Berlin and at the 56th Venice Biennale Of Art.
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This entry incorporates text from “Guardians of Time (art)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.