Underscore is an immersive art experience driven by data from the natural world that brings audiences on a powerful poetic journey, to deliver a prophetic vision of the predicted impact of climate change. Underscore is a reflection of the present moment, a period of heightened transition and flux. We find ourselves simultaneously on the cusp of an environmental catastrophe and an AI fueled economic supercycle that will redefine our purpose, our behaviors, and our beliefs. The experience uses new technologies to communicate a feeling, establish a connection, and provoke a response.

Underscore is an original idea by Hugh McGrory and is created in collaboration with a team of international innovators in AI art, electronic music, VFX, data storytelling, and virtual reality. The audiovisual rhythm is driven by two data sources - a steady rising of temperature and the pulse of the Earth (every 26 seconds). The project is currently in development as a Proof Of Concept with funding from Northern Ireland Screen.

Underscore is an experience that uses 12 large scale vertical screens and a moving image circular floor, in combination with music mixed for a spatial environment. Audiences enter a world that is familiar, with an ambient soundscape and slow visual transitions. The work gradually builds in intensity, towards the crescendo of a musical ‘wall of sound’ and high speed choreographed video loops. Underscore will be distributed as an immersive experience in virtual and physical space, for headsets and venues.