With their happy faces, sometimes a bit melancholy, his sculptures several meters high are often placed at the bend of a path or in a forest on the edge of large cities. JAMES BROOKS/AFP
The gigantic treasure hunt stretches from Australia to South Korea, via the United States and Belgium. It must encourage city dwellers to rediscover nature.
Codes hidden at the foot of 99 statues across the planet reveal a formidable enigma: Danish artist Thomas Dambo, famous for his huge statues made of recycled wood, launched a global treasure hunt on Monday to find his hundredth troll, hidden in the biggest secret.
With their happy faces sometimes a bit melancholy, his sculptures several meters high are often placed at the bend of a path or a forest on the edge of large cities, from Australia to South Korea, passing through the States States or Belgium, to encourage city dwellers to rediscover nature.
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The 99 statues all have a position already known on a map held by the artist (trollmap.com). But in recent weeks, Thomas Dambo has been hiding clues in the form of metal QR codes to find his hundredth creation. “I decided to make it a super secret and make it a complex treasure hunt“, explains to AFP the artist in his forties, based in Copenhagen.
For the moment, impossible to know where exactly is Moon Mother. A few happy few, including AFP, were lucky enough to be able to discover it, but after a car trip with tinted windows. Six meters high, the matron with a face made from scrap wood, came deep in a wood to give birth, according to the story imagined by Dambo. Finding her promises to be an adventure. For a long time even the artist’s collaborators were unaware of his whereabouts.
Mythology
Former graffiti artist and rapper, Thomas Dambo launched his project in 2014, after making two first trolls for a music festival. “Throughout Scandinavia we have trolls in our mythology and in our folklore“, he says. The artist explains that he recomposes his childhood fairy tales through his sculpted giants, which all have a name and a story of their own.
On this rainy Thursday in March, his team members carefully fasten long branches of wood to create the troll’s flowing hair. “We opted for a wild, untamed hairstyle“, laughs one of them. According to Thomas Dambo’s estimates, no less than ten million people have visited his works, all of which are still accessible except for one, Hector Protector in Puerto Rico, swept away by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Every continent is home to trolls except Africa.
Once the clues of the 99 giants have been collected – collectively – fans will have to find the secret place by individually solving a puzzle. “She’s a little cryptic, a little picky“, savors the visual artist. According to him, the mystery should be solved within two or three weeks. With the desire to make the public think, in addition to getting them out of their homes. “I hope my art can be part of the movement that shows people that trash isn’t gross and isn’t worthless“says the Dane. “It is something that has the capacity to drive thousands of people to discover it as a treasure“, savors the creator.