Synthetic Reefs
In Synthetic Reefs, Victor Mendez dives into an underwater world where life adapts in unexpected ways.
He sees the ocean as a space of change and cooperation, where all creatures are deeply connected. Using artificial intelligence (AI), Mendez creates new hybrid beings—part machine, part animal or plant—shaped by algorithms. Inspired by surrealist art and Jacques Cousteau’s ocean documentaries, his images evoke a dreamlike world full of strange beauty. He also draws from Theo Jansen’s “new nature,” known for wind-powered walking sculptures made from plastic tubes. Mendez doesn’t try to show a clear future, but instead explores possibilities: what happens when natural ecosystems disappear? How might life look in a world shaped by both humans and machines?
