The trolls come indoors as a Danish recycling artist stages his first museum exhibit

ISHØJ, Denmark (AP) — For more than a decade, Danish recycling artist Thomas Dambo has scattered wooden troll sculptures around the world. He has created almost 200 in 19 countries.

Now the poet and former hip-hop artist is bringing a collection of fairy tale-inspired creations in from the cold for his first museum exhibit.

“The Garbage Man,” at the Arken Museum of Contemporary Art on the outskirts of Copenhagen, tells the story of a group of mischievous trolls who secretly move into the museum, take it over and redesign it.

“They build and leave a giant human made of trash … as a lesson for the humans to behave better and don’t put their trash where everybody else lives,” Dambo said at his studio near the Danish capital.

The 46-year-old artist started spreading his trolls back in 2014, when he built two sculptures for a Danish music festival.

Two years later, he hid six giant trolls in wooded areas around Copenhagen. The project went viral, drawing millions of viewers online.

“I was like, if I tell a story that combines them all, then when I’ve done this (for) 10 years, I will probably have made over 100 sculptures and … I have made the world into my stage,” he said.

Twelve years on, Dambo has made almost 200. The artist and his team build about 25 new trolls annually. “Long Leif,” the tallest at 13 meters (43 feet) high, stands in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

Usually, Dambo’s work is as much treasure hunt as exhibit. His fairy-tale creations are tucked away in forests, mountains, jungles and grasslands around the world, discoverable using an online “Troll Map.”

There is “Little Lisa” hidden in a German forest, and “Happy Kim” lounging in a South Korean botanical garden.

Children clamber and adults gasp as they find the trolls. Dambo estimates about 5 million people visit his works annually.

“The sculptures bring people out to experience things that they would otherwise have been too lazy or maybe not creative enough to go and visit,” he said. “My trolls, they bring people to all these small, little corners of the world.”

Each of Dambo’s trolls has a unique name and design. In the Arken exhibit, which opens Sunday and will be on show until Nov. 29, his new works are based on friends he had when growing up.

They have “personalities of a late teenage, young 20s type of group of boys that are causing havoc, and the type of gang that would break into a museum and fill it up with trash,” Dambo said.

Trolls often appear in Scandinavian folklore, but Dambo said he chose to work with the mythical creatures as a vehicle to convey messages on waste and recycling.

The recycling artist’s sculptures are made almost entirely from waste and discarded materials, such as wooden pallets, old furniture and whisky barrels.

He said a museum exhibit means he can experiment with materials that wouldn’t survive outdoors, including discarded electronics, cardboard and clothes, lots of them.

In one corner, a troll named “Dyna Dee” dozes on a 6-meter (nearly 20-foot) mound of discarded clothing from a local recycling organization.

Dambo hopes museum visitors will leave with an urge to buy less.

“It’s not really about recycling, it’s about you probably have enough clothes in your cabinet to wear for the rest of your life,” he said. “This is not my recycling project, this is my stop buying stuff project.”

"Tank Toke" troll sculpture by Thomas Dambo is on display at Arken Museum of Contemporary Art, part of the artist's new "The Garbage Man" exhibit in Ishøj, Denmark, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

"Hill Top Trine" troll sculpture by Thomas Dambo is seen in Hvidovre, Denmark, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

"Little Tilde" troll sculpture by Thomas Dambo is seen in Vallensbaek, Denmark, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

"Dulfi Osteh" troll sculpture by Thomas Dambo is on display at Arken Museum of Contemporary Art, part of the artist's new "The Garbage Man" exhibit in Ishøj, Denmark, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

Danish recycling artist Thomas Dambo poses for a photograph in his new exhibit "The Garbage Man" at Arken Museum of Contemporary Art in Ishoj, Denmark, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Fantasy met reality for Wade Meckler in his debut for the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night when he hit a three-homer in the first inning and Mike Trout greeted him at home plate with a high-five.

“Yeah, it’s pretty surreal,” Meckler said after the Angels’ 9-6 victory over the Texas Rangers. “You grow up watching the guy on TV every day for 10 years, and all of a sudden he’s your teammate. It’s pretty cool.”

Meckler, the 26-year-old who played at nearby Anaheim Esperanza High School, was called up from Triple-A Salt Lake to replace the struggling Josh Lowe in left field earlier Friday.

Meckler raced toward the left-field line and made a sliding catch of Brandon Nimmo’s fly ball before crashing into the wall in foul territory to end the top of the first.

Zach Neto led off the first with the first of his two homers, and Meckler capped the four-run inning by driving a 98-mph fastball from two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom into the right-field seats for his first big league homer and a 4-0 lead.

“Wade Meckler set the tone for the game today,” winning pitcher Grayson Rodriguez said. “Neto’s leadoff homer was great, but Wade hitting that ball off deGrom, that’s what got me going, like, put it in four-wheel drive and let’s go.”

Meckler drew a four-pitch walk in the third and reached on an infield single in the fifth before being replaced by Jose Siri in the top of the ninth.

“It was sick,” Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe said. “It was an awesome homer for him. The energy he brought in spring training was contagious, and he picked up right where he left off with the boys here.”

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Los Angeles Angels left fielder Wade Meckler makes a catch on a foul ball hit by Texas Rangers' Brandon Nimmo during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 22, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Angels' Wade Meckler, left, hits a three-run home run home plate as umpire Sean Barber, center, and Texas Rangers catcher Danny Jansen watch during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Friday, May 22, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Angels left fielder Wade Meckler slides into the wall after making a catch on a foul ball hit by Texas Rangers' Brandon Nimmo during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 22, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Angels' Wade Meckler hits a three-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Friday, May 22, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Angels' Wade Meckler, left, hits a three-run home run home plate as umpire Sean Barber watches during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Friday, May 22, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)