A public sculpture in Dublin billed as a real-time visual bridge between the Irish capital and New York has been suspended after a week due to “inappropriate behaviour” by users.
Designers of the sculpture are “investigating possible technical solutions to inappropriate behaviour by a small minority of people in front of the Portal,” Dublin City Council (DCC) said.
Each sculpture features a 24/7 visual livestream from the portal in the other city, allowing real-time interaction between people on both ends.
Viral video footage posted on social media showed people in both cities flashing body parts and one person in Dublin holding up an image of the September 11, 2001, attack in New York.
The Dublin end of the “Portal,” situated just off the city’s main thoroughfare, O’Connell Street, was switched off late on Tuesday, said the local authority.
“Unfortunately, the preferred solution, which would have involved blurring, was not satisfactory,” it went on. Designers were working on “possible technical solutions,” the statement added.
The sculpture, which was planned to operate until autumn this year, may be turned on again “later this week,” the council said, without providing further details.
“It is important to note that the overwhelming majority of people interacting with the Dublin Portal have behaved appropriately,” it said.
Before its unveiling on May 8, Dublin mayor Daithi de Roiste said he “would encourage Dubliners and visitors to the city to come and interact with the sculpture and extend an Irish welcome and kindness to cities all over the world.”
On its launch day, the city said it planned to connect the Dublin portal to counterparts in Poland, Brazil and Lithuania in the coming months.
