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Few public art pieces have been discussed as much as The Portal in recent months.
The art project—basically a giant screen connecting NYC and Dublin with a 24/7 live video stream—was first installed near the Flatiron Building on May 8. Following a pretty tumultuous three months, The Portal will officially be removed from its current location on September 2.
“Since the launch of The Portal, we have witnessed the profound connections that innovative art can foster within a neighborhood," James Mettham, the President of the Flatiron NoMad Partnership, said in an official statement to Time Out New York. "New Yorkers and visitors alike embraced the Portal, doubling foot traffic in our district’s public spaces and enhancing the vibrancy of the Flatiron South Plaza. As we continue to innovate and create dynamic experiences in Flatiron & NoMad, the Portal, always planned as a temporary installation, will be removed on September 2 to embark on a new phase in its journey with an exciting destination to be announced soon."
Although New Yorkers at large were excited and curious about the project when it first debuted, its trajectory has been bumpy to say the least.
As first reported by the New York Post a mere four days after the installation first went up, people in Dublin almost immediately started flashing swastikas, their own bare bottoms and even more unbecoming images that went viral from the Irish side of The Portal, forcing authorities to shut the whole thing down temporarily.
The Portal opened up again on June 6, albeit with more restrictions in place and amid a collective local sigh. As our Things to Do Editor Rossilynne Skena Culgan mused at the time: have we ever really been ready for The Portal's "pure window" into different cultures?
"I was also worried that it might interfere with my dream of having Portals in all countries around the world," the artist behind the project, Benediktas Gylys, said to Time Out New York at the time. "We still want to make sure that it's a pure window into different cultures. So the question is probably to all of us humans: Are we ready to have this pure window together? Maybe it's not the time. Maybe 20 years will be the right time to have it. So we are making subtle changes. Trying not not to stop the concept of the pure window, trying to find the sweet spot where it's working."
Alas, that's probably how Gylys still feels considering that The Portal is set to invade some other town in some other country in the near future, although details about the project's next destination have not been disclosed yet. Here's to hoping that whoever the upcoming recipient of the public art piece is will do a better job at respecting all that The Portal truly stands for.