Troll

The Fremont troll -- a big, fearsome, car-crushing bruiser -- took up residence under the north end of the Aurora bridge on Halloween 1990. He was... more

by Jim Hatch

Title

Troll

Artist

Jim Hatch

Medium

Photograph - Mixed

Description

The Fremont troll -- a big, fearsome, car-crushing bruiser -- took up residence under the north end of the Aurora bridge on Halloween 1990. He was sculpted by house builder Steve Badanes -- who had never made a statue before -- two of his University of Washington architecture students, Will Martin and Ross Whitehead, and his then-girlfriend Donna Walter. Badanes's design for head-and-shoulders sculpture won a contest sponsored by the Fremont Arts Council.

Troll.
The shaggy troll, 18 feet tall, glares southward with his shiny metal eye -- a Volkswagen Beetle hubcap. In his left hand he crushes the rest of the old-style Beetle, which originally contained a time capsule of Elvis memorabilia; it was removed after the car was vandalized and the California license plate was stolen (The crushed car and out-of-state plate were meant as protests against "outsider" development). There are plenty of places to pose, and interaction with the troll is encouraged as long as you're respectful.

Uploaded

November 8th, 2016