As We Used to Float

Straddling the genres of travelog and critical essay, As We Used to Float explores Bikini Atoll as a space of fantasy and trauma. Situated in a remote region of the Pacific Ocean, between 1946 and 1958 its “paradise” islands were subjected to twenty-three of the most powerful explosions in history—during Operation Crossroads, the U.S. nuclear testing program. Since then, their fate has been largely ignored by the global North. While toggling between a personal account of a sea journey, above and below water, and a critical investigation of postcolonial geography, As We Used to Float develops broader reflections on place and subjectivity. Through its vivid account of concrete bunkers on white sand beaches, the decaying “Ghost Fleet” of World War II battleships, irradiated coconuts, and more, As We Used to Float is a sea-story for our times.