We happened upon yet another religious monument en route to the Netherlands Architecture Institute. No really. This is a sculpture by Dutch artist Has van Bentem. He is a trained ceramicist but is known to work in glass as well. According to Bentem's website (and to my surprise) GUARD is composed of celadon ceramic. The sculpture is 3 meters tall and mounts a rock overlooking a skatepark in Rotterdam. The website further informs that GUARD is meant to be viewed as a fusion between ancient and futuristic ideas of a protective saint warrior.
I can vouch for this first hand. I snapped a photo of the piece and sent it to my younger brother with the e-mail subject "Pagan Idol." Artist's instincts at work! Admittedly, my brother happens to have an almost religious reverence for Japanese action figures so it wasn't much of a stretch. I initially thought it was a transformer but alas I was mistaken. The piece is actually inspired by an anime series and toy series known as Gundam. Get it right.
If you need to make a stop on your pilgrimage you can find it at the skatepark at Westblaak, Rotterdam. It might be easier to make a pilgrimage to Bentem's website at http://www.hansvanbentem.nl/
I can vouch for this first hand. I snapped a photo of the piece and sent it to my younger brother with the e-mail subject "Pagan Idol." Artist's instincts at work! Admittedly, my brother happens to have an almost religious reverence for Japanese action figures so it wasn't much of a stretch. I initially thought it was a transformer but alas I was mistaken. The piece is actually inspired by an anime series and toy series known as Gundam. Get it right.
If you need to make a stop on your pilgrimage you can find it at the skatepark at Westblaak, Rotterdam. It might be easier to make a pilgrimage to Bentem's website at http://www.hansvanbentem.nl/
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