A portal has opened! Complete with a large circular screen and an outward-facing camera, a new sculpture in Manhattan’s Flatiron District displays live video from a twin installation in Dublin, allowing people in each city to communicate in real time.
The newly installed “public technology sculptures” - collectively named The Portal - form an “unprecedented visual bridge between these two iconic cities,” according to a statement from the Flatiron NoMad Partnership.
“Portals are an invitation to meet people above borders and differences and to experience our world as it really is - united and one,” says the artist behind the innovative installations, Benediktas Gylys. “The livestream provides a window between distant locations, allowing people to meet outside of their social circles and cultures, transcend geographical boundaries and embrace the beauty of global interconnectedness.”
Whilst you can see what's going happening on 'the other side', there is no live audio-feed but, judging by the enthusiastic reactions on both sides of the Atlantic, that doesn't spoil the experience.
The Dublin installation looks onto the city’s main drag, O’Connell Street, whilst 3,000 miles away in NYC, its counterpart is in the Flatiron South Public Plaza beside Madison Square Park and the famed Flatiron Building. The sculptures will remain until the fall of 2024, with artistic performances scheduled to occur before the cameras throughout the summer.
The Irish Times said “Viewers on the Dublin side waved at the New Yorkers, blew them kisses and tried to entice them into dance-offs.” People in Manhattan reciprocated and mimicked these gestures. Adding: “It took at least half an hour before a guy in a flannel top on the New York side gave the middle finger to the Dubliners, who repeated the gesture back at him enthusiastically.”