A global artwork that connects people and cultures around the world in real time. In the public spaces of major cities, real portals provide a constant, unfiltered livestream of what is happening on the other side of the ocean. This is the Portals project, conceived by Lithuanian artist and entrepreneur Benediktas Gylys, an ever-expanding network of multimedia sculptures, freely accessible to the public, that for the first time allows people to encounter humanity as it is.
The portals in New York and Dublin were inaugurated on 8 May.
Located respectively in Manhattan's iconic Flatiron Plaza and on the Irish capital's main street, O'Connell Street, the New York and Dublin portals expand the network created in 2021 with the first two portals in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and Lublin, a major Polish city.
Each portal is an individual installation that, together with the others, creates a single living and constantly evolving entity. The project aims to reach a variety of places, from large metropolises to rural towns and natural sites, to highlight and share the diverse beauty of the Earth.
Born from the feeling that we human beings have more to share than what separates us, Portals has its roots in 2016, when founder Benediktas Gylys conceived the idea.
“In 2016 I stopped believing that the success manual of our century deeply installed into my system will make me satisfied" explains Gylys. "After developing several online ventures I had success symbols to show and a painful lack of meaning to hide. Finally surrendering and sincerely admitting that I do not know anything about reality led me to a mystical experience where I felt oneness with all life on Earth for two weeks. After this experience I started seeing our world with different eyes and the default worldview which kept forcing me to see our planet through a lens full of narratives and filters became unbearable. I felt a deep need to counter polarising ideas and to communicate that the only way for us to continue our journey on this beautiful spaceship called Earth is together. I did not want to enter the ring and fight but to offer something with love and light."
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, each portal is a window across the ocean between different locations around the world, an invitation to meet other people across borders and prejudices, and to expand our definition of home: not just the circumscribed place where we are physically located, but the whole planet Earth, seen as it really is: united and one.
"The Portals project," said Daithí De Róiste, Lord Mayor of Dublin, "combines technology, engineering and art to bring together communities from around the world, enabling people to meet and connect across their social, environmental and cultural boundaries. We are delighted to be connecting Dublin with New York, with which we share a deep historical and cultural bond. From July, the Dublin portal will also connect to other Global City destinations in Poland, Brazil and Lithuania, extending the Irish welcome and friendliness to cities around the world".
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Photos Courtesy of Portals.org
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