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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: CX Pacific Northwest Giant Trolls
HEADLINE: Giant wooden trolls enchant the Pacific Northwest
TEASER:
PUBLISHED AT: 09/21/2023 at 8:30am
BYLINE: Natasha Mozgovaya
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Seattle
VIDEOGRAPHER:
VIDEO EDITOR:
ASSIGNING EDITOR: Scott Stearns
SCRIPT EDITORS: Mia Bush, Holly Franko
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __X
TRT: 3:13
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVR
EDITOR NOTES:))
[[CORRECTION: This corrects the name of the Muckleshoot Tribe Artist. It should be John Halliday, not Jim Halliday. No other changes.]]
((INTRO))
[[Six giant wooden trolls have taken up residency in the Pacific Northwest, inspiring “troll hunters” to walk in the woods to find them. This time, world-famous environmental artist Thomas Dambo collaborated on the project with local Native American tribes. Natasha Mozgovaya has more.]]
((NARRATION))
With her wild twig hair and a body made of recycled wooden pallets, a giant troll named Brunn Idun [pronounced Broon Eedun, accent on the first syllable] is playing her flute on the shore of Puget Sound.
((Helaina Piper, Seattle Resident))
“I think it's really beautiful. And the story about it, calling to the orcas and asking where the orcas have been have gone, I think that's a big thing.
((NARRATION))
Helaina Piper is one of the many Seattle residents who have been following the revelation of the giant trolls built by the Danish recycle art activist Thomas Dambo.
((Thomas Dambo, Recycle Art Activist))
“When I come to an area and then I see there's a piece of driftwood and I hear a story about the orcas disappearing because of salmon run — is going super much down — and then that inspires me to create a character. And then I'll write a little poem about it, and I'll write it into a story.
((NARRATOR))
Driving with his team from coast to coast, Dambo, with the help of local volunteers, has built 10 giant wooden trolls.
((Thomas Dambo, Recycle Art Activist))
“The “Way of the Bird King” is a fairy tale. That's a chapter in my story that I'm building one sculpture at a time all around the world. So far, I've built 125.”
((NARRATOR))
The story follows a boy named Oscar who, interacting with trolls, learns what happened to the environment. At the end of the journey, he becomes the Bird King.
((For radio: Leslie Anne Anderson is the chief curator of the National Nordic Museum in Seattle))
((Leslie Anne Anderson, National Nordic Museum))
“Trolls are kind of fantastical beings larger than life. And yes, they can be a little ominous and threatening. But here, they have a very kind of soft approach to the public and are really purveyors of this message of sustainability and caring for the Earth.”
((NARRATOR))
The giant installations, most placed in natural parks, were built in secret.
((For radio: Seattle resident Susan Denini))
((Susan Denini, Seattle Resident))
“There's some intrigue because of the fact that people are needing to find it. And the art itself is beautiful.
((NARRATOR))
Some of the trolls were built in collaboration with local Native American tribes.
((For radio: John Halliday is a Muckleshoot Tribe artist known as Coyote))
((John Halliday, Muckleshoot Tribe Artist))
“My artist's name is Coyote and I do painting, and I'm legally blind. But he [Dambo] believed in my contribution and my artwork and allowed me to help design one of the trolls in West Seattle. I wanted to do this project with Thomas because the message that he's bringing of saving the planet is the same message that us as Native people believe that our home is worth saving, that we should be good stewards of the land.
((NARRATOR))
For Dambo, the path to a better future for humanity goes through a dumpster, where he finds materials for his art.
((Thomas Dambo, Recycle Art Activist))
“The world is running out of resources while drowning in trash. And those two problems are the solution. If you just combine them and understand that one man's trash is another man's treasure, the world is not drowning in trash — it's filled with treasure.”
((NARRATOR))
The giant trolls exhibition is planned to last for three years. Dambo says his sculptures often take on a life of their own. The mysterious mossy woods of the Pacific Northwest seem a perfect place for the trolls’ next adventure.
((Natasha Mozgovaya, VOA News, Seattle, Washington))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
