On a cloudy Wednesday, Vedhika, Amy and Mitchell took a trip to Nordhavn in search of Thomas Dambo’s newest “giant” – Captain Nalle. It was quite the experience!
We started at Nordhavn train station which was our meeting point. The sky was grey and cloudy while a breeze swept through as we were trying to find our way through the city. It was an adventure to all of us as we began to explore the outskirts of the city to find Captain Nalle who was supposedly hiding. Following the roads, we reached the local trampoline park, AirTrix and found an empty path leading to the treasure, which was quite muddy. The roads we walked on were busy and industrial until we reached the entrance to Captain Nalle’s abode. Suddenly, we were in a new and calm environment and it was just the four of us and the Captain. It was a sight to see, with nothing but fall colors and nature surrounding the nearby land.
The captain found
Captain Nalle was a big figure, pulling a boat, and it almost felt as if he was hovering over us. His eyes were made of big bottle caps and it looked like he was looking outward at something, longingly. So many recycled materials were put together to bring emotion and character into the giant, that it tells a whole story by itself. It made all of us quite intrigued towards the giant.
Now, given this opportunity, we went around the area taking videos and photos of the giant and with the giant. This isn’t something we get to see every day! Thomas Dambo had really created more than just an artwork!
Who is Thomas Dambo?
It may raise the question – just as it did for us – who is Thomas Dambo and what has he done?
Thomas Dambo is a 41-year-old man Danish recycling artist, who is known for his eye-capturing wooden troll sculptures placed around Copenhagen. Ever since Thomas was a young kid, he always had a fascination with building things, such as treehouses and boxcars from old wood he found around his neighbourhood. After he graduated from high school Thomas wanted to become a carpenter, but very quickly, he became bored with the thought of repetitive work he would have to do.
So instead, he decided to go into design school, and he started seeing art in the things people threw out, especially all the wood that was thrown away on construction sites.
3000 birdhouses
One day he found a container filled with wood, he had a brilliant idea and created his first major street art called “Happy City Birds”. Since that street art was published, Thomas has produced over 3000 birdhouses in several cities around the world. After graduating from college, Thomas started his business in his own workshop, while still creating street art.
The reason Thomas decided to put the wooden trolls around Copenhagen and hide them in the wilderness is because he wants to lure people away from computer screens and into the wilderness.
Amy and Thomas have a lot in common not just building but creating new things out of trash or random objects. When Amy was younger, she really enjoyed building Legos and making different shapes with them, or even using different pieces of paper to create a weird shape. Amy never repeated the same ones because she would get irritated doing the same shapes again just like Thomas.
The way Thomas built and created these pieces out of our everyday recycled materials was something to appreciate. Seeing Captain Nalle in person was a whole different feeling from looking at it’s pictures. Our trip was worthwhile, despite the day being cold and grey. We left sooner than planned, but the time spent to and with the giant was one to remember.
Vedhika, Amy and Mitchell are students of International School of Hellerup. thir supervisor is Ms. Rashmi.
Little Reporter is a creative writing program for children to master the art of content writing using the practical tools of Journalism. Enquiries and more information: visit www.Lcen.dk or write to learningcentredk@gmail.com
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