Sometime in 2019 or ’20, I saw a picture of a piece of public art in Charlotte that intrigued me. I mentioned it to a friend and she said “Oh yeah. It’s outside the community services building.” Which was kind of vague. But, I found it.
I almost missed it as I drove by because it’s across a fairly large parking lot and very similar in color to the building itself.
It is wonderful in every sense of the word.
The day I was there was balmy with a light breeze and I had the space to myself. The piece isn’t part of a larger exhibition or noted any particular way. It’s just there, being lovely.
I hope this doesn’t sound like damning with faint praise. It was delightful. But, I would not have made a special trip with a hotel stay to see it. The trolls are great. But, I would need to go for other stuff, too. The Arboretum is worth seeing and so is generally hanging out in Asheville, imho. We did talk to a couple who are “troll collecting.” They saw their first in Wisconsin.
There were signs near some of the trolls giving directions that encouraged engagement with the exhibition. Not all, but some.
They have QR codes for labels. But, I neglected to take pictures of all of them. Frankly, I didn’t notice them until I was 3 or 4 trolls along.
This first troll you see is Wilde. It’s by the entrance into the Visitor Center. I wasn’t sure I was going to get a picture of it without a human blocking it because so many were crowding around getting their own photos.
WildeTaks
The highlights in his eyes are screws. And I was amused by how the toenails are inverted. Those were features of all of the trolls.
ValleBignutLilnutBoge
I absolutely could not get a picture of Boge without someone in his hands. The crowd around him was large and close in as everyone waited to take their turn to be held by a troll.
KirsePoppy
Nearby, there was a little story about Poppy collecting the detritus of humans kind of like little kids collect rocks.
Hasse
Hasse is pretty sassy and I love his hair.
BirchAnja
People had a lot of fun trying to build cairns on her hands with the stones in her buckets.
And I missed Larke. We were so focused on going down the hill to see Anja, we didn’t look to our right to spot her. If I get back over there to see them with my cousin, I’ll add her to the post.
I think people have always been judged by their appearance. “He has such big muscles, he must be stupid.” “She’s so beautiful, she can’t be smart.” “They’re wearing glasses, they must be smart.” “They like to wear black, they must be weird in a particular way.” Brunettes are smarter than blondes and redheads have nasty tempers. That list could go on all afternoon.
I suspect every single human feels that there is some way that they have been unfairly judged based on their appearance, including all the Beautiful People. And I think we have all taken in societal expectations so much that we are our own worst critics.
I am hoping that talking about what those expectations are and how ridiculous most of them are is helping us to do 2 things that are sides of a coin. One is to quit being critical of ourselves and the other is to look at each other without looking for norms. But, instead to see the fabulousness that abounds.
Public conversation about it has helped me unlearn a lot of expectations. In particular, who gets to wear what. I wish the “why did I buy into that?” moments had come sooner. But, they didn’t.
This gave me joy. So many people, so many ways to decorate their bodies.
This was posted on Reddit. I have tried to look up where it came from originally. But, all I can find are reposts over the last year. I have no idea who took the picture. I wish I could give credit for it.
I am the Audience 