You’ve likely heard of the Fremont Troll. Now get ready for the West Seattle Troll.
(Photos courtesy Scan Design Foundation. Above, Dambo troll installed in Dayton, Ohio)
As first reported by GeekWire, a Danish artist is going to install “six giant hand-built Nordic troll characters” around the Northwest later this summer – at sites in West Seattle, Ballard, Issaquah, Bainbridge and Vashon Islands, and Portland.
Artist Thomas Dambo has already installed ~100 trolls, made from recycled materials, around the world. (Currently he’s in New Jersey.) His Northwest project is being overseen by the Scan Design Foundation, whose announcement says Dambo’s work carries a “message of turning trash into treasure and building community through art” and will be “amplifying the network of cultural heritage between Coast Salish tribal communities and Danish and Scandinavian traditions (to reinforce) the shared values of environmental stewardship for watershed protection, restoration, and preservation of riparian habitats.” The artist is quoted as saying, “I want people to know that trash has value. My trolls do that, and also help me tell stories, like the legends I grew up with. In nature, there is no landfill. Nature is circular – everything has a meaning and everything is recycled.”
(Dambo troll installed in Breckenridge, Colorado)
So, you’re wondering, where will the West Seattle troll be? They’re not announcing specific locations yet but Seattle Parks is a “site partner” so it’ll be in a park; when the concept was circulated among neighborhood groups many months ago, Lincoln Park was mentioned as a possibility. The reveals are scheduled to happen between early August and mid-September – one per week, per the early concept discussion – and once complete, the trolls will remain in place “for at least three years.” As for “how big” is meant by “giant,” the early discussions suggested at least 20′ high. (The photos accompanying this story are three trolls installed at other sites in the U.S.)
(Dambo troll installed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming)
The regional project is titled “Northwest Trolls: Way of the Bird King” and has a website, including a list of who’s funding and sponsoring the project.
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