Teän Roberts (Hold Fast) - Tang on Ling, 2025

TANG ON LING, 2025

Digital giclée photographic print on 310gsm cotton rag archival paper

For this project, Roberts’ interest in the islands’ past has branched into experimental archaeology. They have tried different methods of collecting and drying kelp and - through this learning-by-doing - have contributed considerably to the practical understanding of kelping on the islands. Kelp would have been collected at low spring tides (when the larger, deeper-growing species are reachable) or very soon after storms, which drag wave-torn weed ashore.

The seaweed (for which “kelp” was a collective dialect term) is difficult to differentiate when fresh, but as it dries the different species change colour, making them easier to identify. The weed is incredibly heavy when fresh but loses most of its water - and therefore weight - over the first 24 hours on land. It was likely spread out to dry as close to its collection point as possible, then moved elsewhere a day later to dry fully before being burned.

16x20 inches. Edition of five. £120