By now you’ve likely heard of Malin, one of Austin’s most talked about new residents in the past year. She lives in Pease Park and happens to be an 18-foot wooden troll.
Frequently referred to as the Pease Park troll, Malin’s Fountain is a sculpture created by renowned Danish artist Thomas Dambo. Costing around $300,000 to install, the artwork was privately funded by donors to the Pease Park Conservancy. The public installation debuted in March of 2024 and remains a permanent landmark. It’s hard to miss, standing prominently just north of the Kingsbury Commons area of the park.
As you walk the trail and enter the passage of trees amidst which Malin lives, you’ll find her sitting in front of you with a calm look on her face, holding a bowl. That bowl gets filled with water only if it rains or if visitors offer water as part of a collective effort to nourish the park’s creatures. Complementing her whimsical hippie aura is her unruly hair made from tree branches and her stack of rock necklaces. A gentle giant, both her posture and expression are open and welcoming.
Malin is part of a larger troll project from Dambo. With more than 100 Dambo trolls existing around the globe, each is intended to promote appreciation for the natural world and reduce waste with trash as its primary material. Malin’s Fountain, in particular, was constructed using more than 80% recycled, repurposed, or found materials. Dambo designed Malin’s Fountain to encourage reflection, recycling, interaction with nature, and generosity between species.
Despite these intentions, newness is seldom received well in Austin. “The Troll of Pease Park,” a recently premiered documentary short film from Austin-based filmmakers Elisabetta Diorio and Gregory Makarian of Good Dog Studios, captures this truth. From learning about the troll’s arrival to its early residence in the park, Diorio and Makarian uncover both the excitement and anxieties that Austinites feel in response to Malin.
Amusing and existential, “The Troll of Pease Park” presents the troll as a microcosm to explore the larger consequences of a developing Austin and how the public is handling the shift. The film raises an intriguing point, noting that every novel artifact brought to Austin – even the apparently inconsequential ones – can bring forth fear and reservations in its citizens.
Malin’s Fountain as a concept asks us to confront our collective cynicism about change.
On one hand, the incoming of Malin’s Fountain symbolizes the loss of Old Austin. A once humble community space now hosts an expensive structure from a famous international artist. Malin is yet another Austin transplant, manifested as a wooden mythical creature that stares down on you as you go for an unassuming walk. Her presence can make natives uneasy and inclined to question her ability to fit in. The buzz surrounding her residence has the potential to turn their tranquil local park into a crowded attraction. Additionally, funding a sculpture to promote eco-consciousness is perhaps less effective than putting that money into initiatives to help Austin’s natural landscapes.
On the other hand, Malin’s Fountain provides childish fun and wonder to the public area. With her kind demeanor and magnificent size you can’t ignore, the troll invites us to spend more time with nature, play a little, and consider the importance of sharing resources.
It’s hard to discern how effective the artwork is in compelling us to protect natural spaces. However, Malin’s Fountain as a concept asks us in a lighthearted fashion to confront our collective cynicism about change. The piece does what public art is supposed to do, which is to inspire intrigue, feelings, and discussion. Malin, depending on who sees her, represents the joy or growing pains that come with Austin’s expansion.
The concerns – exaggerated though they may be, in the case of troll art – are fair considering the city’s rapid developments and the nostalgic tendencies of its inhabitants. But the evolution of Austin is coming whether we like it or not, and the case of Malin’s Fountain can teach us to detect when it’s perhaps not worth fighting and when we should even lean into the change. Sometimes the new people, ideas, and landmarks coming to Austin vary our lives in good ways, and Malin makes things more interesting. Cynicism aside, she’s a pretty delightful troll.
Malin’s Fountain
Pease Park
Until 2039
Pease Park’s Malin’s Fountain Inspires Debate
A version of this article appeared in print on Aug 2, 2024 with the headline: Pease Park’s Malin’s Fountain Inspires Debate
This article appears in August 2 • 2024.