Maya Lin's Latitude New York City is a subtle but powerful statement about the hidden nature surrounding us and climate change.

The marble sculpture is so much more than the tripping hazard that it appears to be at first glance. The name of the sculpture already describes the idea behind the artwork - it represents the geographical latitude of New York. Lin characterized it as a sectional detailing of the ocean’s floor. She said: “Imagine if you took water away, the terrain is a section of landscape, around the world, latitudinally or longitudinally.” Her goal was to reveal the landscapes that are usually invisible to us but are right under our feet, in this case, on the ocean floor. By engaging with the artwork, people can learn about the natural, topographic, and environmental aspects of New York.

The piece was part of the show “Platform: Maya Lin” at the Parrish Art Museum in Long Island. The place of the exhibition aligned with Maya Lin’s interest in the boundary between sea and land, since Long Island is surrounded by water on both sides. The artist’s fascination with changing sea levels and the temporality of designating something as sea or land is represented in the marble sculpture. What was once land could soon become water and vice versa. With sea levels rising due to climate change, many places we know and love could end up being hidden by water, just like the circle of Latitude New York City is now. The work’s mission is to make the viewer aware of this problem. The artist believes that pieces like Latitude New York City can offer new perspectives and motivate people to fight against climate change.

The work is part of a series that consists of three marble sculptures that were exhibited in concentric circles at the Parrish Art Museum titled Arctic Circle, Latitude New York City, and Equator. All of the pieces were cut out of Vermont marble – fancy right? – and represent the topographies of specific locations on the globe. The artist said she wanted to use white marble because it is a traditional and almost cliché material, but it also situates the work within the chronology of art history. In this way Maya Lin's minimalist sculpture reminds us of the importance of the environment, and of the enormous losses that we may suffer because of climate change - which will include art's greatest masterpieces.