Portals leading to destinations worldwide now exist in our age of technology. While you may not be physically transported or hear the sounds of other busy cities, you can witness friendly faces and the excitement of visitors across borders and seas. Last week, as rain poured down on a grey afternoon in Dublin, spectators clustered together around a video portal and were connected to individuals passing through the busy streets of New York City.
Crossing the screen, Dubliners waved enthusiastically at a NYC bicyclist enjoying a sunny morning in Manhattan. The NYC traveler wobbled slightly as he waved back to viewers across the globe, eventually recovering his balance and heading further down Fifth Avenue.
More cheers spread through the crowds in Dublin at the sight of a woman walking her dog. Stopping to stare at the screen, the NYC woman grinned while picking up her dog and waved his paws to greet their audience. The excitement spread at the interaction with the furry friend, with Amy Ferguson, 24, saying “I wish I’d brought my dog.”
The five-day live stream launched on May 8, connecting Ireland’s capital with New York via an interactive sculpture and webcam that allows viewers to see one another across seas, but the audiences could not hear each other. Separated by 3,000 miles and five time zones, playful interactions between people exemplified the hope of authorities across both cities. New York’s Chief Public Realm Officer, Ya-Ting Liu, stated “Two amazing global cities connected in real time and space.” Further encouraging connection was Dublin’s lord mayor, Daithí de Róiste, expressing that “I would encourage Dubliners and visitors to the city to come and interact with the sculpture and extend an Irish welcome and kindness to cities all over the world.”
But hope slowly dissipated as the viewing went on, as Dubliners’ behavior turned bad. Steering away from the pleasant experience, some of the Irish decided to flash body parts, while others displayed images of swastikas or the Twin Towers in flames on 9/11. The bad behavior continued with a man making an inappropriate display of snorting what appeared to be cocaine and a woman was arrested by police for vulgarly grinding against the portal.
Residents near the portal were not surprised at the poor behavior of their country’s residents. A resident nearby, Suzanne Bryne, 33, said “Why did they put it here? They’re all mad on this street. At night-time it’s like The Purge” she said, citing the dystopian film franchise.
New York City was not impressed by the Dublin behavior, and the New York Post blamed the bad behavior on the “Guinness-glugging patrons,” and called the art installation a “Portal to hell: NYC-Dublin live video art installation already bringing out the worst in people.”
Trying to patrol the poor behavior, the Dublin city council has announced that it would modify the operation of the portal in response to the bad behavior, with the announcement stating, “While we cannot control all of these actions, we are implementing some technical solutions to address this and these will go live in the next 24 hours,” it said, without specifying the changes.
The portals were designed by Lithuanian artist, Benediktas Gylys, with each portal displaying an 8-foot-wide screen and weighing 3.5 tons. The NYC portal is at the junction of Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and 23rd Street, with the Dublin counterpart at the corner of North Earl Street and O’Connell Street, and will continue to run until autumn.
