Trash is treasure for this Danish artist and his new Iowa trolls

About this episode

Danish artist Thomas Dambo discusses his giant troll sculptures made from reclaimed materials and their installation in Iowa.

Danish artist Thomas Dambo has built giant troll sculptures all over the world. He makes them entirely out of reclaimed materials and hides them in natural spaces. Iowa is now home to four trolls, as part of Dambo's 'Trolls of America' dream to have at least one troll in all 50 states. On this episode we talk with Thomas about he came to be a world famous trash artist. Then, we hear from the Clinton, Iowa residents who convinced Dambo's team to install wooden trolls in what was once considered the lumber capital of the world, as well as from some of the volunteers and builders who helped construct the trolls named Helmut, Marvin and Warren around the city. A fourth troll named Fjord Ferryman was also recently unveiled in southwest Iowa at the Museum of Danish America in Elk Horn.

People in this episode

Guest: Thomas Dambo

Topics covered

• art
• reclaimed materials
• sculpture
• community involvement
• environmental art

Keywords

• Danish artist
• troll sculptures
• reclaimed materials
• Iowa
• community art
• environmental art
• Thomas Dambo

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Trolls of America, Helmut, Marvin, Warren, Fjord Ferryman

Places: Iowa, Clinton, Iowa, southwest Iowa, Museum of Danish America

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