From the workship of Danish artist Thomas Dambo and his team, a "gentle army" of 170 giant wooden trolls is heading out to forests the world over. Crafted from pallets and other wooden junk, the project began 12 years ago and a new troll, up to 40 feet tall, is born every two weeks or so.
"I believe that we can make anything out of anything," said Dambo, speaking from his farm outside Copenhagen. "We are drowning in trash. But we also know that one man's trash is another man's treasure." An installation of six sculptures called "Trolls Save the Humans" is on display at Filoli, a historic estate with 650 acres of forests and gardens in Woodside, California, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of San Francisco.
Dambo estimates 4.5m visitors a year to the sculptures, "all made out of trash." The Associated Press reports on the characters and the lore:
Dambo's trolls don't like humans because they waste nature's resources and pollute the planet. The mythical creatures have a long-term perspective because they live for thousands of years and have witnessed the destructive force of human civilizations. But the six young trolls at Filoli have a more optimistic view of human nature. They believe they can teach people how to protect the environment.
An online Trollmap shows the locations of each, and there's a big thick art book you can get.
