There’s a Massive Art Installation in Times Square Meant to Wake Us up About Climate Change

Gear Diary is reader-supported. When you buy through links posted on our site, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. You can learn more by clicking here.

If we don’t make an effort to reduce climate change, in 100 years parts of Manhattan could be under water. That’s a scary thought, and just the kind of thought meant to be evoked by the ‘Unmoored and Wake’ by Mel Chin art installation that was unveiled today in Times Square.

Unmoored and Wake is a public arts project that was created in partnership with the Times Square Arts, No Longer Empty, Queens Museum and Microsoft. The installation includes an enormous sixty-foot animatronic installation called Wake, which evokes the hull of a 19th-century shipwreck crossed with the skeletal remains of a marine mammal, and it is designed to work in a mixed reality environment.

Passerby can download the Unmoored app to experience the whole mixed reality shebang of what it would be like if Times Square was under water. Alternatively, they can try a Hololens on site in order to experience what New York would look like if it was underwater.

The art installation is open to the public from July 11th to September 5th at the Broadway Plaza between 46th Street and 47th Street.

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks for your support!

About the Author

Helena Stone
Noticing that there was a void of female influence in the technology blogosphere, Helena started Chip Chick in 2004. The site grew to become the no 1. tech site for women, which she ran as Editor-in-Chief until 2017. A native New Yorker, Helena holds a Masters in Digital Imaging and Design from NYU. Helena has been featured on MSNBC, Wired, ABC News, People Style & Watch, Time Magazine, Woman’s Day magazine, and other major news outlets. And when she is not busy testing out new gear, she can be found trotting the globe, looking for the next hot gadget.