The live streaming portal between Dublin and New York was removed after visitors from both cities engaged in obscene behavior, less than a week after it was activated.
The futuristic sculpture, which opened on May 8, formed a 24/7 virtual bridge to allow people to connect across the Atlantic.
Exposition organizers touted the interactive exhibit as a unique way to “embrace the beauty of global interconnectedness.”
However, some locals on both sides of the portal have been abusing the technology and engaging in lewd behavior, prompting organizers to shut down the visual link.
Videos of a person looking at the camera, a model in New York showing her breasts, others holding swastikas and some even showing images of New York’s Twin Towers burning on 9/11 have been circulating on social media.
Onlyfans model Ava Louise posted a video of herself lifting her top and showing her breasts to the portal with her back naked in front of the New York City crowd.
Less extreme was an Irishman who greeted the dozens of Americans on the other side, before turning around and mocking them.
Dublin City Council spokesman Michael Ryan said exhibition organizers were looking at “possible technical solutions” to address inappropriate behaviour.
‘Dublin City Council had hoped to have a solution today, but unfortunately the preferred solution, which would have involved confusion, was not satisfactory.
“The Portals.org team is investigating other options,” Ryan saying.
Zac Roy, a spokesman for the Flatiron NoMad Partnership, said the “overwhelming majority” of people interacting with the portal have behaved appropriately, and clarified that the inappropriate behavior comes from “a very small minority” of visitors.
He said there has been 24-hour security and barriers at the New York location since the exhibit opened.
The exhibits are expected to return later in the week.
In an image shared by the company, a blue tarp covered the portal Tuesday afternoon after visitors used the futuristic obesity sculpture.
OnlyFans model Ava Louise posted a video of herself lifting her top and showing her breasts to the portal with a bare back in front of the New York City crowd on May 12.
“I thought the people of Dublin deserved to see my two homegrown potatoes in New York,” Louise said.
The stream appeared to shut down after Louise was caught showing off Dublin, with one person telling her boyfriend: “It’s so unfortunate people aren’t acting in the best way.”
Another video posted on Instagram showed a man on the Dublin side who appeared to be taking drugs and said: “What a day, what a city, New York never sleeps.”
The usual sight of people waving from the historic Irish capital was interrupted just hours after the portal opened by a close-up of a man’s phone.
It first showed ‘RIP Popsmoke’, in reference to American rapper Bashar Barakah Jackson, who was shot dead in a home invasion on February 19, 2020.
Five men broke into Jackson’s Los Angeles home demanding jewelry and shot him three times with a Beretta M92 when he tried to fight them.
The Irishman then switched his phone view to a video of the World Trade Center towers burning and billowing with black smoke during the 9/11 terrorist attack that shook the city and the world in 2001.
An Irishman changed his view to a video of the World Trade Center towers burning and billowing with black smoke during the 9/11 attack.
Another video showed a woman being dragged out of the portal by police after rubbing herself against the screen.
Another video from the Dublin side of the portal showed a woman being dragged out of the portal by police after rubbing herself against the screen.
“She was basically there for about 20 minutes very drunk and banging and grinding on the door before the guards came in,” the person who filmed it explained.
Less extreme was an Irishman who greeted the dozens of Americans on the other side, before turning around and mocking them.
Another man held up a swastika on his phone and a lot of middle fingers were exchanged on both sides.
Amid the antics of varying degrees of offensiveness, some salutary moments have been captured on both sides of the portal.
Before its closure, the crowd on both sides of the portals were mostly behaving. Some waved friendly greetings or made heart signs with their hands.
Killian Sundermann, a 30-year-old Dubliner visiting New York, held the phone to his ear as he waved and spoke to his girlfriend who was watching from the Dublin side.
At one point, he approached the safety barrier and jokingly tried to impersonate someone coming down an escalator.
Lynn Rakos, a 60-year-old Brooklyn resident who lived for a time in Dublin, blew a kiss toward the screen.
“I think it’s sweet, as long as we all behave.” We have all these connections on our phone and Facebook, but it’s unscripted here. You don’t know who’s there and you’re just saying hello,’ Rakos. saying.
In one case, a man in a rainy New York was seen being cheered on by people in Dublin as he did 50 push-ups. He was seen giving the Irish crowd a round of applause as he stood up triumphantly.
In another clip, two friends, one in New York and one in Dublin, are seen meeting through the portal. The video was titled: “meeting my Irish best friend through a portal” and showed the two women making heart symbols with their hands.
In a healthier moment, two friends, one in New York and one in Dublin, were seen meeting through the portal. The video was titled: “meeting my Irish best friend through a portal” and showed the two women making heart symbols with their hands.
The exhibits will run through the fall, but no official end date has been announced.
“Portals are an invitation to meet people across borders and differences and to experience our world as it really is: united and one,” said Benediktas Gylys, Lithuanian artist and founder of The Portal.
Gylys first thought of the concept in 2016, when a spiritual experience led him to see the planet through a different lens and he developed a need to “counter polarizing ideas” and find a way for people from different cultures to communicate. .
It provided the majority of the funds needed to build the first two portals in collaboration with a team from VilniusTech University in Lithuania.
The first two portals opened in May 2021 in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius and the Polish city of Lublin.
