Two visual art installations linking Ireland and the US via live stream were temporarily shut down on May 14, a week after they were put up due to “inappropriate behaviour”.
Known as The Portal, the installations with round lens-like screens 2.4m in diameter and weighing 3.5 tonnes each, were designed by Lithuanian artist Benediktas Gylys.
The US structure is in New York City, next to the famous Flatiron Building, while its Irish counterpart is in the heart of Dublin city.
The installations were launched on May 8, forming a visual bridge that allowed real-time interaction between people from both cities, although there is no audio.
While many in each city gleefully greeted their counterparts and even a marriage proposal took place, there have also been reports of unruly and wild antics.
They include an OnlyFans model raising her top to flash her breasts to people in Ireland.
“I thought the people of Dublin deserved to see two New York, home-grown potatoes,” Ms Ava Louise said in a video she posted on Instagram on May 13.
Over at the Irish side, a “very drunk” woman was arrested after grinding her buttocks against the screen, while a man dropped his trousers and exposed his buttocks to those watching in New York.
Other vulgar behaviours include people flashing images of swastikas and the Twin Towers burning during the Sept 11 attacks.
As a result, Dublin city council said it has switched off the interactive webcam and is looking into “possible technical solutions to inappropriate behaviour by a small minority of people in front of the Portal”.
“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,” it added in a May 14 statement.
The council said the team behind the installations expect the live stream to be turned on later this week.
CNN reported that the live stream from the New York side has also been switched off and that inappropriate behaviour constituted “a very small minority” of visitors.
“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,” CNN quoted a statement from Flatiron NoMad Partnership, one of the project’s organisers.
Some Irish citizens are aghast at the ugly behaviour.
“Not even a week in and Dubliners have truly embarrassed us around the world,” journalist Amy Donohoe wrote in an Irish Independent column.
“Anyone who goes and stands in front of the portal is representing our little country, but if we’re showing off a drunken culture and being offensive, it could potentially affect tourism in Ireland in the long run. People may not want to come here if this is what they’re seeing.”
