iARKEN Museum of Contemporary ArtIshøj
The Garbage Man – Thomas Dambo
Thomas Dambo, famed for giant troll sculptures made from recycled materials, brings his playful upcycled world indoors for the first time in a museum.
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Eight trolls broke into ARKEN at night, hauled in 2.5 tons of rubbish and began building a giant human from it. One of them, Dyna Dee, has already lain down on a six-metre mound of donated clothes. The finished Garbage Man is, Dambo says, a lesson for humans about where they leave their trash.
This is Thomas Dambo's first museum show, after close to 200 trolls built outdoors in 19 countries. Alongside pallets, old furniture and whisky barrels, he used electronics, cardboard, clothes and some of ARKEN's own old floorboards. You can't touch or climb the trolls, but you can build one of your own in the open workshop. Dambo calls this his "stop buying stuff project", and it closes two days after Black Friday.
It's pitched at children, which is the catch for Politiken's Mathias Kryger: he found the trolls "almost banal" as children's education. Entry is the ARKEN ticket (DKK 150, under-18s free), and Thursdays run to 21:00.
Editor's pick
Thomas Dambo, known for giant troll sculptures built from recycled materials, brings his upcycled world into a museum for the first time. After years of trolls hidden in Danish woods, these ones you can find without muddy boots.
Look for
Dyna Dee on the clothing mound
Look for the one troll not working, stretched out on a pile of donated clothes about six metres high.
The Garbage Man
The giant human the trolls are building, its skin made from discarded clothes that the troll Snafyr picks out and fits piece by piece.
Burns Lobba, the hauler
A troll caught mid-drag, pulling rubbish toward the spot where the giant figure is going up.
Munter, the hidden troll
The eighth troll isn't signposted: ARKEN leaves it to you to find where Munter is hiding.
The troll workshop
An open workshop where you build your own troll from discarded materials, including flooring from ARKEN's old shop and foyer.
Good for
- Evening Visits
- Rainy Days
- Small Kids
Skip if
You want art over a moral: Politiken found the recycling message spelled out like a children's lesson.
With kids
Under-18s get in free, and kids can build their own troll in the open workshop. The trolls themselves are look-only: no climbing or touching.
Free in the same building
Plan a visit to ARKEN Museum of Contemporary ArtAlso at ARKEN Museum of Contemporary Art
On now nearby
Image credits
5
- The Garbage Man – Thomas DamboPhoto: Anders Sune Berg / ARKEN
- Gauguin & Kihara – First ImpressionsCourtesy of Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
- The Cabinetmakers' Autumn Exhibition: Light & FormThomas Ibsen
- Camille Henrot, Paper PlanesPhoto: David Stjernholm / Copenhagen Contemporary
- ARKEN Museum of Contemporary ArtHenry Kellner / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0