Imagine global warming goes unchecked, and in no time many cities around the globe will be underwater. New York is one of the cities that definitely will be affected by the increasing water levels in the coming future. This is the story we read, hear or watch in the news, in environmental documentaries or in the movies.

This summer, this story was told and shown differently through the surreal Unmoored project, in a raising awareness campaign about the effects of global warming. Passers-by through Times Square could experience the most crowded place in NYC underwater, with a nautical traffic jam of boats bobbing 26 feet over head.

“I think the most important motivation as an artist is to use what James Baldwin has described as extracting the question that is buried within the answer. If the answer is ‘The world will be inundated and destroyed by our own doings,’ then what is the question that we have to ask now? This project is about now.” (Mel Chin, the artist behind Unmoored, talking about his visual project)

The immersive artistic installation used mixed reality, experienced through Microsoft HoloLens, and augmented reality, through an AR app. The story transported people in a very possible and close future, making them live the future they need to prevent from happening, for the benefit of their kids.

The big story was built around the challenge that a city like NYC would face because of unchecked global warming. The imagined heroes were the users/the audience exposed to the immersive story. They are the ones who could do something to prevent such a tragic end of the story, such as making pressure on the politicians to respect the commitments made for slowing down global warming.

Through Unmoored, the audience could also jump in other stories, more specifically scientific stories that inspired the artist behind this project. All boats had unique identification numbers and names, as symbols for a scientific articles that were published, mainly, in regards to global warming causes and effects. For instance, one of the boat was called The Influencer – and it had behind the articles written by B. D. Santer et al – Identifying human influences on atmospheric temperature.

“Making objects and marks is also about making possibilities, making choices—and that is one of the last freedoms we have. To provide that is one of the functions of art.” (Mel Chin)

The project, powered by Microsoft, was developed by Mel Chin – an American visual artist who worked across multiple mediums for more than 40 years. He uses his art to incite the public and the public discourse, hoping for meaningful change on social and environmental issues important to him.