On the 8th of this month, two new landmarks appeared at the same time near the Flatiron Building on Fifth Avenue in New York and O'Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland.
(A circular sculpture appeared on the streets of Dublin and New York)
Unwrapping the blue outer packaging, there is a circular sculpture weighing 3.5 tons, and there is a large screen with a diameter of 2.4 meters in the center of the sculpture, which is also the magic of the sculpture.
The screen uses real-time live broadcast technology, through which the people of New York and Dublin can interact in real time 24 hours a day. Although they can't hear the voices on the other side, they can see the images and can easily greet each other across a distance of more than 4,800 kilometers.
(People in New York and Dublin greet each other)
It's kind of a space-time gate.
The futuristic project, called "The Portal", which means portal, was initiated by Lithuanian artist and entrepreneur Benediktas Gylys.
According to Benediktas Gylys, the project was created with the intention of using technology to connect people around the world. It is hoped that these "time and space gates" can transcend geographical restrictions and cultural barriers, allowing people from different countries to meet and communicate and experience a united and unified world.
(People in New York and Dublin can interact in real time)
The idea was developed back in 2016 and was put into service for the first time in May 2021 in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and in Lublin, Poland. At that time, the friendly interaction between the people of the two countries left a lot of heart-warming pictures.
(Vilnius and Lublin are separated by the people)
Now, the "space-time gate" has been moved to New York and Dublin.
When the Gate of Time and Space officially opened last Wednesday, Dublin Mayor Daithí De Róiste was on hand to excitedly encourage everyone to participate, hoping to make Dublin more inclusive and show the welcome and goodwill of the Irish to people around the world (remember that phrase, more on that later).
(都柏林市长Daithí De Róiste)
At the opening ceremony, the people on both sides of the screen actively worked hard, and people from other cities came to check in and watch, and the scene was noisy with gongs and drums, and firecrackers rang out.
(Dance Performance)
Since there was no sound to be heard, people prepared greeting signs with "Greetings from New York" and "Welcome to Dublin".
(New Yorkers hold signs and interact)
Everyone took selfies around the screen and waved to each other:
(People from the two cities compare their hearts to each other)
Someone else used this to achieve family reunion, and a grandmother living in New York met her granddaughter in Dublin through the "time and space gate".
(Meet family members living in both countries)
However, the warm and touching atmosphere did not last long. The friendly interaction between the two cities has only been around for a few hours, and the style of painting has taken a sharp turn......
Later that day, a drunken Dublin woman suddenly came to the "Time and Space Gate", inexplicably rubbed her back against the screen, and then lay there for more than 20 minutes, so that the people on both sides could not continue to interact until the police arrived and dragged her away......
(Drunk woman taken away by police)
It seemed like a bad start, and in the days since, more and more strange things have happened......
One of the most noisy on the Internet was a video of black smoke billowing from the World Trade Center building during the 911 attacks in Dublin being shown on the screen.
(Irish man showing 911 to the screen)
Isn't this rubbing salt into someone else's wound? Before that, the people of New York were still waving their hands and exclaiming in disbelief when they saw this scene.
However, the New Yorkers did not let each other go, and immediately countered with pictures of potatoes, alluding to the potato famine in Ireland that year, and focusing on a hell joke to defeat hell jokes.
(New Yorkers begin to show pictures of potatoes)
The beef between the two sides was thus buried, and later a series of unethical interactions were launched.
For example, someone used a mobile phone to display Nazi symbols, which led to a silent "international friendly gesture" duel between the two sides.
(People from the two cities compare their middle fingers to each other)
Even the child followed the middle finger:
(Children also follow the middle finger)
Later, the duel began to develop in the direction of heavy taste......
There was a Dublin drunk guy who first waved at the New Yorker on the other side of the screen by pretending to be friendly, then suddenly turned around and took off his pants and showed off his high-definition ass. Finally, in the bewildered expression of the New Yorker, Yu left proudly amid the cheers of his fox friends and dogs.
(Dublin drunk with ass to screen)
And then a "bare-footed" battle began. Everybody came to show their ass.
(There are also others who start showing their butts)
There are also people who take the opportunity to make pornography, and some people in Dublin hold up signs and shamelessly ask girls in New York to "post some nude photos".
(Dublin guy holding up a sign to take a nude photo)
There are also people dancing in front of the screen, and the picture is quite spicy......
(Someone performs a large-scale dance on the screen)
The craziest thing is that someone is suspected of blatantly taking drugs in front of the screen, while the people around are just excitedly watching and do not stop it.
From greeting each other warmly to scolding each other and taking drugs, it has been less than a week, and the "time and space gate" carrying the mission of cultural exchange has been completely broken, and what is displayed is some indescribable pictures.
After these videos spread online, netizens in the two cities were also enraged, and continued to post content related to 911 and potatoes online, poking each other's wounds.
(Someone is suspected of drug use)
However, this farce was temporarily stopped because the "Time Gate" was malfunctioning. The technical team interrupted the live stream in the morning and went back online in the afternoon after a simple maintenance and update.
(The "Time Gate" is temporarily disabled)
Originally, according to the plan, it was supposed to run until the fall. In the coming months, New York and Dublin are also planning to co-organise cultural programs, such as the celebration of New York Design Week, and it is uncertain whether there will be another chaos during this period.
Looking back on the whole process, I have actually created some good memories.
Children from both countries excitedly waved to each other on opposite ends of the screen, and New York passers-by saluted Dublin's firefighters......
(New York passers-by salute firefighters in Dublin)
Young men and women exchange contact details and enjoy a special encounter.
(Many young people exchange contact information)
(The New York girl holds up a sign to introduce herself: "Hi, I'm Andrea.") ”）
It's just that these beautiful moments were defeated by malice after all.
The first kindness has also been overshadowed by historical pain, eroticism, and drugs......