A Frozen Surfboard in Times Square Calls Attention to Antarctica

01What appeared in Times Square

On September 22, a red surfboard stood inside a large block of ice at Father Duffy Square. The ice was designed to melt during the day and gradually release the board. The New York presentation took place during Climate Week NYC and was promoted as a partnership with the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition. Rather than functioning as a screening, the installation directed passersby by QR code to the documentary and a petition.

02The board came from the expedition

Gauchos del Mar identifies the object as one of the boards used during its Antarctic expedition. Argentine brothers Joaquín and Julián Azulay directed the resulting documentary after traveling through the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula by sailboat, on foot and by surfboard. Their official campaign describes the frozen board as a visual metaphor for the region's fragility.

03The film behind the installation

Antarctica - Domain One is Gauchos del Mar's seventh documentary. The full film runs 94 minutes and is available in Spanish and English, with subtitles in several languages. Ricardo Darín narrates the Spanish version; 11-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater narrates the English version. Gauchos del Mar and A Small Company produced the film, with Joaquín and Julián Azulay credited as directors. The campaign also links to a shorter, approximately 25-minute cut.

04What Domain 1 means

The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, or CCAMLR, divides its Convention Area into nine planning domains. Domain 1 covers the Western Antarctic Peninsula and the South Scotia Arc. CCAMLR stresses that a planning-domain boundary is not itself the boundary of a protected area; it is a framework for research, planning and reporting.

05The protected-area proposal remains under consideration

Argentina and Chile introduced the preliminary Domain 1 marine protected area proposal to CCAMLR in 2017. An official proposal paper says the model was built around priority areas for conservation while also considering the krill fishery, climate change, research, tourism and other activity in the region. CCAMLR's current protected-area overview lists the South Orkney Islands southern shelf and Ross Sea region MPAs as the adopted areas; Domain 1 remains a proposal rather than an established MPA.

06Protection would not mean one blanket rule

CCAMLR explains that marine protected areas can contain several zones: some may prohibit fishing, while others may permit managed fishing or research when those activities fit the area's conservation objectives. The Domain One campaign advocates restrictions intended to protect important feeding and breeding habitat while managing pressure on Antarctic krill. The exact legal boundaries and rules would depend on an agreement by CCAMLR members.

07The frozen board has traveled before

The filmmakers' official project history places earlier Frozen Board installations at the Obelisk in Buenos Aires from May 14 to 16, 2026, and in Rome on June 8 and 9 for World Oceans Day. Times Square extended that public-art campaign to New York. The installation has ended. The documentary and petition remain available through the official campaign site.