Pete with the Big Feet
Explore River District's Signature Art Piece
Big Pete's Big Feet
This story, one I once was told, is about a troll named Pete,
And since he was just three years old, he walked on two big feet.
He leaped across the river deep and up the mountain steep,
But without something bittersweet, this story’s incomplete.
Pete, he was in love with everything around his feet—
The flowers in the peat moss, roses, daisies, and the weeds.
But every time he moved his feet, his heart would skip a beat,
’Cause every step he took, he crushed the flowers underneath.
So Pete, he stopped to wonder at a heap of blooming buckwheat,
And wished his feet were more petite—he grieved them so gigantic.
He wondered, should he take a seat and slowly fall asleep,
Or should he keep on walking, in the hope to spread their seed?
World's Leading Recycling Artist
THOMAS DAMBO
Thomas Dambo (Odense, Denmark; 1979) is the world's leading recycling artist. Since 2014, he has produced artwork with discarded materials in more than 20 countries on five continents, including the USA, China, Brazil, Australia, the UK, Germany, France, South Korea, Chile, and Puerto Rico.
Among Thomas Dambo's most famous works are his giant Trolls, made out of recycled materials. More than 156 of them have been built from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, from forests to deserts. He has also built more than 7,000 birdhouses all over the world. Some of his most acclaimed works include the Happy Wall (Beijing, Las Vegas, Hollywood, Rio De Janeiro, Santiago de Chile, Edmonton, Copenhagen, Roskilde) and the Future Forest (Chapultepec Park, Mexico City).
His passion for recycling and upcycling started when Thomas Dambo’s parents taught him and his brother the value of protecting nature and using recycled materials to make their own toys, costumes, tree houses, and items. In 2010, he graduated with a degree in Interactive Design from Kolding Design School. In his life, he has shown multifaceted interest in art and the music world: he has performed as a rapper, human beatbox, graffiti- and street artist. In 2011, he decided to quit his job in Danish television to fully embrace a full-time career in art.
Today, Thomas Dambo lives on his farm in the Danish countryside, where he has his studio. He also offers talks about his art practice and workshops to teach people how to reuse and upcycle.
“My mission is Waste No More: our world is drowning in trash while we are running out of natural resources. I choose to spend my life showing the world that beautiful things can be made out of trash. I give new life to discarded materials by turning them into large-scale artworks. My aim at the moment is to build 1,000 Trolls using recycled materials all over the world,” states Thomas Dambo.
Thomas Dambo's creative vision is to transform trash into art, blending it with a sense of adventure through the exploration required to find his works, most of which are hidden in natural landscapes. He collaborates closely with local communities, involving them in various stages of his projects, from collecting discarded materials, helping build the sculptures, to maintaining the finished sculptures.
Learn More About Thomas
