Trans-Atlantic flashing: Artwork The Portals has attracted lewd behaviour via a live intercity video link. Photo / Seth Wenig, AP; avalouiise
Trans-Atlantic flashing: Artwork The Portals has attracted lewd behaviour via a live intercity video link. Photo / Seth Wenig, AP; avalouiise
An artwork sharing live video between Dublin and New York has been shut down less than a week after being unveiled to the public due to some “inappropriate behaviour”.
From the moment they opened, “The Portals” have been plagued by trans-Atlantic flashing.
The artwork by Lithuanian artist Benediktas Gylys, comprising two video links and circular screens as a 24/7 window between the two cities - was designed with the brief of “Sharing ideas and love for the new Earth.” However this was probably not what he had in mind.
Social media videos from both sides of the artwork have appeared showing flashing various body parts. One New York-based adult model saw it as her window for self-publicity. On Monday the OnlyFans star, whose video of surprising Dubliners has since gone viral, claimed responsibility for shutting the portal down.
“I just wanted my potatoes to be international,” she said.
The artwork was originally part of a tourism promotion tie-in for the Irish city, as EU Capital of Smart Tourism Designation 2024.
Organisers Portals.org said Dublin City Council switched off the broadcast from 10pm local time on Tuesday saying that they expected to turn them on again later this week once a satisfactory solution had been found.
“We are delighted by how many people have been enjoying the Portal since it was launched last week,” the statement said. “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 Portals organisers say the 'overwhelming majority of people' behaved appropriately. Photo / Seth Wenig, AP
The Irish Capital said the artists were “investigating possible technical solutions to inappropriate behaviour by a small minority of people in front of the Portal.”
In fact, the organisation is still looking for new host cities, once they had landed on an appropriate anti-flashing solution.
But currently blurring videos was not a satisfactory answer.
After New York the portal is expected to move to destinations in Poland, Brazil and Lithuania.
The prototype portals first linked Vilnius, Lithuania and Lublin, Poland in 2021, where apparently passers-by are far more polite.
The public artwork had been championed by Dublin Lord Mayor, Daithí de Róiste.
She announced her support for the sculptures as contributing to her goals, expanding the city’s global connections.
“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.”
With lofty ambitions, and goals of creating a “bridge to a united planet” - Ava Louise was the last person they expected “popping up” on their screens.
The shameless self-publicist has courted controversy before. Louise shot to notoriety for posting videos of herself licking plane bathrooms, dubbing it the “Coronavirus challenge” and once telling TV host Dr Phil she would “rather die hot than live ugly.”
