International artist and YouTube sensation Thomas Dambo will create the mythical creatures from reclaimed wood, spell-binding visitors and turning a lens to humans’ impact on the natural world.
This summer, six colossal wooden trolls will make their home in The Morton Arboretum’s 1,700 acres. But where did they come from? And why are they here? Those questions—and more—will be answered as Troll Hunt makes its debut at the Arboretum on June 22.
The first large-scale U.S. exhibition from Danish artist Thomas Dambo, Troll Hunt will take visitors on a journey to find the larger-than-life guardians of the forest living in the Arboretum’s woods. While visitors seek out the creatures, the trolls are in turn trying to make sense of the human world that surrounds them, hunting us with nets and other contraptions to protect the forest from human impact.
Over a period of six to eight weeks in May and early June, the 15- to 20-foot-tall trolls will emerge in locations throughout the Arboretum’s woods, as Dambo and his team create them using hundreds of pieces of reclaimed wood—battered boards, fallen trees and branches, and the remains of pallets and packing crates. Some trolls will be situated in plain sight, while others will be hidden off paths among the trees. Visitors are invited to watch the artist as he constructs each troll on the grounds.
Exhibit Highlights
Built to be both mischievous and thought-provoking, the trolls of Troll Hunt invite visitors to interact with them, while elements of the exhibition encourage visitors to consider their personal responsibility as stewards of our environment.
For example:
One troll kneels near a “trap,” a simple wooden crate propped open with a stick. One end of a string is tied to the stick while the other end is clasped in its hand as the creature waits to catch a human for study.
One troll sits next to a tree, holding a long rod that crosses a low-hanging tree branch. At the end of the rod dangles a net that visitors can climb into to be “captured.”
Additionally, a troll “hideout” tucked away in a wooded glen will give troll seekers a glimpse into the way these creatures live.
“People around the world have admired Thomas Dambo’s large-scale recycled wood creations in his native Denmark and on social media, and we are thrilled to host his first-ever large-scale artist-in-residence exhibition in the United States,” said Sue Wagner, vice president of education and information at The Morton Arboretum. “His trolls and the story behind them—that they are protectors of our forests—will amaze and intrigue visitors of all ages, while drawing attention to how humans can better care for trees and the environment in which we live.”
The trolls are expected to remain at the Arboretum beyond 2018. For more information about Troll Hunt at The Morton Arboretum, visit mortonarb.org/troll-hunt.
About Thomas Dambo
Thomas Dambo collects and reuses wood that would otherwise be wasted for his whimsical, epic-scale sculptures, which he has erected from Denmark to Australia. He got his start turning scrap wood into birdhouses–some 3,500 so far in cities from Beirut to Berlin–and now his art can be found around the globe. Each of his pieces conveys the importance of sustainability, a mission shared by The Morton Arboretum as it works toward a greener, healthier, and more beautiful world through the planting, care of and conservation of trees. Dambo, who raps in English and Danish as well as working in wood, may be best known for the Six Forgotten Giants, enormous characters created from discarded wood pallets scattered throughout his home city of Copenhagen. To learn more about Thomas Dambo and his art, visit thomasdambo.com.
