Giant Sea Creature Projection To 'Climb' UN Headquarters In NYC

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — If you look up at the East Side skyline next week and see an enormous, deep-sea creature shimmering on the side of the United Nations headquarters, you won't be hallucinating.

The 505-foot-tall projection of a siphonophore, a species of eerie ocean creature, will be shown on the side of the iconic building from 8–11 p.m. nightly starting Tuesday, Sept. 21, and continuing through Friday.

It's created by SUPERFLEX, a Copenhagen-based artist collective, and timed to coincide with the 76th UN General Assembly, which runs from Sept. 21-30. The projection aims to draw attention to the threat that climate change presents for marine life.

Each night, the sea creature will span all 39 stories of the UN building's north-facing marble facade, "inviting humans to meet one of the many species we share our planet with," according to a news release.

Though they look like individual organisms, siphonophores are in fact colonies of multiple organisms that live, move and reproduce as one — a symbol of cooperation, organizers say.

Dubbed "Vertical Migration," the projection was commissioned by the nonprofit ART 2030, whose partners include the United Nations, Google Arts & Culture, and others.