10-foot sea level rise in NYC marked out on pavement

August 4, 2007 10:26 AM

HighWater Line is a public art installation in New York City that will be a 70-mile chalk line marking the boundary of a 10-foot sea level rise. More pictures under Timeline.
posted by stbalbach (13 comments total)

I don't get it... how will people know what the line means?
posted by phrontist at 10:53 AM on August 4, 2007

I don't get it... how will people know what the line means?
They ask. Even after she's gone, someone will have asked her about beforehand and told others, etc.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:56 AM on August 4, 2007

Amazing. Thanks for posting.
posted by Soda-Da at 11:06 AM on August 4, 2007

Reminds me of a project a friend of mine was working on. He was going to send rollers and ink around the country so people could duplicate the New Orleans high-water mark in buildings in their towns. Personal stuff intervened, so he never finished it. A shame. I really liked the idea.
posted by brundlefly at 11:32 AM on August 4, 2007 [1 favorite]

A white chalk line? Not very many people will ask; more might if the chalk were tinted seawater blue, but you'd need an environmentally friendly coloring. It's almost too bad she couldn't rig a stencil to make a simple message with the chalk at regular intervals "SEA LVL + 10FT", but then, I seem to be overthinking a line of chalk.
posted by wendell at 12:06 PM on August 4, 2007

The politicals are talking about giving us a blue paint line in Santa Barbara but there is a bit of anger about the $10,000+ cost.
posted by Iron Rat at 12:37 PM on August 4, 2007

Shouldn't be hard to get a 100 people to donate a $100.
posted by Mitheral at 1:09 PM on August 4, 2007

very cool.
posted by andythebean at 1:35 PM on August 4, 2007

This reminds me of Ledia Carroll's Mission Lake Project where she drew a blue outline around the old Mission Lagoon aka Dolores Lagoon here in San Francisco.

The one problem was publicity. When I looked out my window and saw this blue line going my street, my first thought was that some chemical truck had run around with its spigot open. It wasn't till far later that I found out what it was.
posted by bottlebrushtree at 1:35 PM on August 4, 2007

Ledia Carroll's Mission Lake Project link fixed
posted by bottlebrushtree at 1:36 PM on August 4, 2007

I live above the line! Take that, suckers. When the time comes, sleeping places on my floor will go to the highest bidders.
posted by dame at 2:12 PM on August 4, 2007

Very nice. And, a very visceral way of driving home the point without being preachy - a simple marker, with a stark reality behind it. I may not know art, but I believe this falls within the boundaries of it.
posted by FormlessOne at 2:36 PM on August 4, 2007

A white chalk line? Not very many people will ask; more might if the chalk were tinted seawater blue

From the main link:

I will be marking the 10-feet above sea level line by drawing a blue chalk line and installing illuminated beacons in parks.

posted by ludwig_van at 4:28 PM on August 4, 2007