A visual art installation in the form of a two-way live-stream portal linking the cities of Dublin and New York City was temporarily shut down due to "inappropriate behavior."
The circular screen portal in Dublin, Ireland, faced the city's main street, O'Connell Street, and a similar portal and webcam in New York City were installed on the Flatiron South Public Plaza at Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and 23rd Street.
The portals, which don't include audio capabilities, allowed passing locals from the respective cities to see what was happening across the Atlantic in real-time, 24/7.
Unfortunately, a small minority of locals from each city ruined the experience for everyone else when they engaged in lewd public behavior.
Less than a week after the sculptures debuted, the proverbial plug was pulled and the installations were temporarily shut down.
One social media clip showed a Dubliner showing images of 9/11 to New Yorkers through a smartphone.
Other circulating clips showed people flashing body parts to spectators on the other side, including a man who mooned the portal screen and a woman who lifted her shirt to expose her bare breasts.
Online jokes were made to make light of the situation.
Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), an Irish public service broadcaster, was notified by a caller of an individual who witnessed a woman suspected of being intoxicated and led away by Irish police after dancing provocatively against the screen.
Most social media users were flustered over the inappropriate behavior.
The Dublin City Council said in a statement on Tuesday that the creators from Portals Organization, the company behind the installation, are “investigating possible technical solutions to inappropriate behavior by a small minority of people in front of the Portal."
The statement read:
“Dublin City Council had hoped to have a solution in place today, but unfortunately the preferred solution, which would have involved blurring, was not satisfactory."
The City Council said they planned to turn off the installation at 10 p.m. local time Tuesday and that the Portals Organization was expecting to be able to turn it back on later in the week.
The statement continued:
“We are delighted by how many people have been enjoying the Portal since it was launched last week."
“It has become a global phenomenon and it is important to note that the overwhelming majority of people interacting with the Dublin Portal have behaved appropriately.”
The Council also stated they would continue monitoring the situation over the next few days with their partners in New York "to ensure that portals continue to deliver a positive experience for both cities and the world."
Flatiron NoMad Partnership, one of the project’s organizers in New York, described the protective measures they initially instituted.
Their statement said:
“In New York, we have had a set of protocols in place since the Portal’s launch, including 24/7 on-site security and barriers to prevent people from stepping onto the Portal."
In light of the recent incidents of inappropriate behavior from “a very small minority” of visitors, Flatiron NoMad Partnership said they would shut off the portal at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
@dom_lucre It's funny how no one foreseen this happening. Like come on its new york.— (@)
Daithí de Róiste, Dublin’s Lord Mayor, said in a May 8 news release announcing the project that the art installation intended to "expand global connections."
Said de Róiste:
“One of my key aims as Lord Mayor is to make the City more inclusive."
"The Portals project embodies this, bringing together technology, engineering and art to bring communities from across the world closer together and to allow people to meet and connect outside of their social circles and cultures.”
Positive interactions were still plentiful, evident in the montage clip below.
@dom_lucre This is so beautiful. visual bridge connecting New York City to Dublin\n\nA public technology sculpture known as The Portal was unveiled this morning in New York City\u2019s \u2019s Flatiron neighborhood. The sculpture has a real-time, visual live stream connecting New York City to Dublin,\u2026— (@)
Robbie Reidy, who is from Dublin, said he enjoyed playing rock-paper-scissors with New Yorkers and was disappointed to hear news of the inappropriate behavior.
"We are trying to represent Dublin," he told BBC News NI, adding:
"The stuff that isn't too great is all over social media and gains more popularity, but 99% of the time it's friendly interactions."
The Dublin and New York pairing wasn't the first livestream interactive installation between cities, internationally.
According to the Portals Organization's website, the first portals in 2021 linked Vilnius, Lithuania, with Lublin, Poland.
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