Video Documentation Of Max Hooper Schneider’s Journey Exploring Reefs Ecologies.

Max Hooper Schneider’s Art Journey was a maritime exploration of coral reefs around the globe. Most of the sites were situated in the Indo-West Pacific, where the majority of the planet’s corals are found; others are in Russia and East Africa. Amongst others, the journey included a pilgrimage site seminal in the development of the coral imaginary in science and art: Cocos Keeling Islands.

Max’s journey investigated reef systems from the Bikini Atoll to the Fukushima disaster “reef” in Japan, from Lake Baikal in Russia to the coast of Madagascar, and produced a diverse narrative around them. Importantly, each reef system has been compromised by its contact with humans, and each one reveals a specific aspect of how this interaction has occurred, as well as how human and non-human agents have acted over time to remediate the damage. Together, the reefs tell a story of death and resilience, corruption and rebirth.