Organisers had earnest ambitions of fostering cross-Atlantic ties when they launched an art installation connecting Dublin with New York.
The Portal, which is a large circular screen that allows residents of both cities to communicate via a 24/7 live video feed, was meant to remove “borders and differences” and to “experience our world as it really is — united and one”.
But the venture quickly went south. Those interacting from Dublin’s busy O’Connell Street began flashing their bare behinds, swastika images and even photos of New York’s Twin Towers in flames on 9/11.
Dubliners on North Earl Street
NIALL CARSON/PA
The Irish side of the installation, which does not have audio, has views of the General Post Office and the Spire. Its New York counterpart is in the Flatiron South Public
