KELP STAR
This work made of Laminaria Digitata is a result of a site specific research into kelp during a two-day field study of underwater kelp forests harvested by myself using a low-impact hand method in collaboration with a marine biologist as part of the Lofotoen International Art Festival, September, 2019.
Central to the work is an interest in making visible and by that creating an awareness about normally invisible underwater kelp forests, which like rainforests are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Earth. Growing in large underwater stands, kelp forests are thought to play a key role as a blue carbon store. Through the process of photosynthesis, kelp absorbs CO2 into its tissues. But they are increasingly threatened by a variety of human impacts, including climate change and fishing/hunting, harvesting, eutrophication.