The Portal connecting Dublin to New York will beam to two new cities as part of a major shake-up for the contentious art installation.
The sculpture forges a real-time visual bridge between the two cities through a 24/7 livestream and has been stationed on O'Connell Street in the capital's main street and next to the Flatiron Building in Manhattan since May.
The Portal captures the GPO building and the Spire in Dublin , and provides vistas of Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and 23rd Street in New York. Dublin City Council have now announced two new spots have been added to the roster.
“The Portal in Dublin has attracted over 340,000 visitors since its launch in May and has brought a new lease of life to North Earl Street,” said the Lord Mayor of Dublin , James Geoghegan. “We are delighted to see the network of cities expand to Vilnius and Lublin and look forward to seeing more people enjoy the Portals experience .”
The Vilnius Portal is positioned adjacent to the city's central station, and the Lublin Portal is located on the central city square, Litewski Square. The founder of the Portal is Lithuanian Artist Benediktas Gylys.
The Portal has been at the centre of global media attention , and some controversy, in its short life. After its opening in May, the Dublin-NYC portal was temporarily shut after several people engaged in inappropriate behaviour.
This included a person showing a photo of the 9/11 terror attack to the livestream and multiple incidents involving nudity and drunk and disorderly behaviour. The Portal originally live-streamed from the two cities 24 hours a day.
Following the incidents, it now streams daily between 6am to 4pm in New York and 11am to 9pm in Dublin. In another development, the Portal's US side will be changing location .
The temporary permit at Flatiron Plaza comes to an end on September 2, according to Irish Mirror. The permanent location for the New York Portal is not yet known.
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"It took us eight years to arrive at this special day and we are grateful for the consistent support from our partners in Dublin, New York City , Vilnius, and Lublin," said Benediktas Gylys. "The current four Portals form the foundation of a network that will expand later this year, bringing Portals to even more countries around planet Earth .”
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