A gang of trolls has taken over the Atlanta Botanical Garden! Not to worry—they’re not the disagreeable internet kind of troll, they’re the utterly charming, super-size, wooden sculpture kind of troll. The gang, known as Save the Humans, wants to call attention to important messages of sustainability.
Ronja Redeye, the Save the Humans gang leader, believes when it comes to the environment “humans are a bit slow and don’t understand … how their actions have consequences”. She is leading the charge to educate humans on how they can do better. Ronja Redeye greets visitors to the Garden.
The Save the Humans trolls are the work of Thomas Dambo, a Danish recycle art activist. Amazingly, they are made entirely of salvaged materials, primarily discarded wood.
In his book, Trolls: Save the Humans, Dambo provides a richly textured backdrop for the exhibition. Each troll is named and given its own personality. Kamma Can, for instance, is a creator. “Where humans see trash she sees potential. Over the last years of human existence, the amount of colorful eternity materials has increased rapidly. Kamma finds this new material rather beautiful and she simply can’t understand why the humans just throw it away… she can think of a million ways to make nice things with all those beautiful colors.”
This is Kamma Can wearing one of the necklaces she made from discarded plastics (aka eternity material).
Creating these amazing artworks from discarded materials is Dambo’s way of demonstrating there is beauty in trash. He says “In 2021, I moved my workshop to a large property outside Copenhagen. Together with my crew of 25 wonderful and highly skilled people I work on making my dream of a ‘recycled world’ come to life: We plant trees to make a forest, renovate the old buildings and work on my mega project ‘Trail of a Thousand Trolls’. And the most beautiful thing is that all this is only possible because we collected millions of small dirty pieces of trash one at a time, cleaned them and gave them new life. This is my mission and what I want to teach the world: Trash can be a beautiful thing, it can put food on the table, make people smile and help make the world a better place.”
Repurposing is a recurring theme here on the FanningSparks blog (it even has its own REPURPOSE blog category under MAKE). Previous blog posts, such as Found Object Sculpture and From Discards to Wearable Art, share the stories of other creatives who are making art with discarded materials.
Dambo’s trolls are remarkable because of their size—ranging from 15 feet to 25 feet—and charming appearance. In this photo, a family admiring Kamma Can helps illustrate the scale.
The small car, being used by Rosa Solfinger to hold ornamental plants, emphasizes the troll’s gigantic proportions.
As with each troll, Rosa Solfinger has a distinct personality and a supporting story. “Her face is as gentle as her personality and she always wears a soft sunny smile on her cheeks.”
“Rosa has always loved flowers, and she loves to care for them … she take[s] the tops off the smelly metal boxes and plant[s] flowers in them. She knows the little humans love to sit inside the metal boxes while running back and forth on the long black lines. … Rosa brings back life where humans have abandoned it.”
“Ibbi Pip is a handy, optimistic troll and a friend of all animals. … Ibbi puts up little birdhouses everywhere in the hope that the humans will think more about whom they share the world with.”
The trolls are captivating but it’s the storytelling around them that makes this exhibition extraordinary. That, plus the fact, these trolls are part of a much bigger effort. Thomas Dambo “is known internationally for his larger-than-life troll sculptures that are a part of his project ‘The Trail of a Thousand Trolls’ that are all made from recycled wood. With more than 100 sculptures all over the world, these trolls have begun to have a life of their own. Popping up in Denmark, USA, France, Germany, China, South Korea, Chile, and many more on the way, this message of sustainability and unlimited imagination has reached millions through in-person visits, shared photos, and international media coverage.”
A global map of the trolls, along with an interactive treasure hunt, can be found on Thomas Dambo’s website. This is a screen grab of the map with an enlarged view of Atlanta, Georgia shown in the inset.
“Most Thomas Dambo’s trolls are hidden in nature and it requires a walk and some exploration to find them. In this way, the visitors are encouraged to be outside and open their minds to the natural world surrounding us.” It’s not difficult to find the trolls in the Atlanta Botanical Garden but a couple, such as Basse Buller, are tucked into out-of-the-way spots.
Basse Buller “is a wild child at heart… he loves to express himself through symbols and shapes inspired by the nature he lives in and he makes his mark with stones, leaves, sticks”. Basse Buller created the Save the Humans symbol with stones from the giant wooden bucket by his side.
The sixth troll in this exhibition, Sofus Lotus, literally has his ear to the ground to demonstrate the importance of paying attention. He says it best “If we’re going to save the humans, we should teach them to listen… Only a human who listens will hear when Nature talks”.
More Info
The beautiful Atlanta Botanical Garden is located in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The outdoor art installation, Trolls: Save the Humans, which blends art, nature and messages of sustainability is on display until September 17, 2023. For more information consult the Atlanta Botanical Garden website.
To learn more about Thomas Dambo, the Danish recycle art activist, and his work, check the Thomas Dambo website. The book, Trolls: Save the Humans, by Thomas Dambo, which is available at the Atlanta Botanical Garden gift shop, is a great addition to the exhibition.
To find a Thomas Dambo troll sculpture, or other work of art, near you check his website or the Troll Map website.
For more stories about repurposing and creating with discarded materials, see the previous blog posts Found Object Sculpture and From Discards to Wearable Art.
Today’s Takeaways
1. Consider using the Troll Map to find and visit a Thomas Dambo Troll.
2. Beautiful, imaginative works of art can be created from trash.
3. “Only a human who listens will hear when Nature talks” Thomas Dambo
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