A mushroom cloud balloon in Times Square is supposed to make you stop and think

The arresting sight of "Zero Nukes" is meant to stop traffic and spark conversation.

In the valley below Times Square's electrified billboards and skyscrapers stands a 30-foot tall inflatable sculpture: a horror comedy mashup of a child’s bouncy castle and a nuclear mushroom cloud. At the very top are big black letters that demand “Zero Nukes” in the eight languages of the countries thought to possess nuclear weapons: English, Russian, Mandarin, Hebrew, Hindi, Korean, Urdu and French.

The art work, which is also called "Zero Nukes," was made by the Mexican artist Pedro Reyes. It's the centerpiece of "Amnesia Atómica NYC," a public art project commissioned by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and presented by Times Square Arts, which is meant to generate conversations around the anti-nuclear movement through performances, a virtual-reality experience, participatory art work and much more.

For more, read the story on Gothamist.