Incidents also in Dublin
Passers-by misuse New York’s live video portal
May 15, 2024, 9:19 p.m
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Two science fiction-like video portals connect New York and Dublin via live video transmission. People can look at each other, wave at each other, make jokes. Or show naked skin and sensitive videos. Because the latter happened, there is currently no connection anymore.
It feels very close, but is actually thousands of kilometers away: two circular portals have recently connected the cities of Dublin and New York via live stream. The work of art is actually intended to provide a real view of the other city – and at first it worked quite well: people waved to each other or played “rock, paper, scissors” from a distance. But after several distasteful incidents, the windows to the other world have been switched off again for the time being. Only when a solution has been found to avoid misuse should the installation be switched on again, reported the Irish broadcaster RTÉ.
“Everyone should think of a seven-year-old child who is in New York and wants to experience something, who wants to connect with Dublin and wave to the people there,” artist Benediktas Gylys had said. “Definitely it’s about us as humans creating the work of art together, but we have to make sure it’s family friendly too.”
The art installation in New York when the livestream was still running.
(Photo: IMAGO/Levine-Roberts)
However, there were several incidents that were not so family-friendly: a woman in New York showed her breasts, and in the Irish capital a man showed off his bare bottom. Some people held up their cell phones showing pornography or the Sept. 9, 2001, attack. In Dublin the work is on one of the main streets of the metropolis, in New York in the middle of Manhattan next to the famous Flatiron building.
Dublin City Council had previously said it was pleased that many people had used the portal since its launch last week. “It has become a global phenomenon and it is important to note that an overwhelming majority of people interacting with the Dublin portal have behaved appropriately.”
This is the second installation of this kind. A first portal has been connecting the Lithuanian capital Vilnius and the Polish city of Lublin for around two and a half years. However, the new work of art is receiving significantly more attention in New York and Dublin. Millions of people of Irish descent live in the USA.