New York's New Live Art 'Portal' Becoming International Disaster

A new interactive art exhibit was recently unveiled in New York City, and almost immediately, people ruined it.

The exhibit in-question is a live art installation, located at the Manhattan junction of Broadway, Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street. The project, which was dubbed The Portal, looks like this:

As you can see in the video, the exhibit has a web camera at the top, and a large circular video screen. The web camera captures what's happening in front of the exhibit, and sends the video to the other "end" of The Portal, which is located in Dublin, Ireland.

Get our free mobile app

In theory, the exhibit is harmless and fun. Passersby are able to interact with people halfway across the world, and share a memorable moment with someone who they may never actually meet in-person.

While it was theoretically harmless, in actuality, the project morphed into a disaster almost immediately. Visitors on both sides of The Portal quickly realized that, much like leaving a comment on social media platforms, they could do heinous things in front of the screen, and not be punished for it in real-time.

Take a look at some of the footage of what has happened recently at The Portal:

As was mentioned in the second video, the exhibit was shut off for a period of time. Per an article from The Journal published on Monday morning, however, The Portal has once again been activated, with sources saying it was shut off due to a technical glitch.

One would have to assume that the security around the project will be a bit more strict this time around, so we can all avoid an international incident taking place.