(UPI) An art installation in New York and Dublin takes the form of a "portal" that allows viewers to visually connect across 3,000 miles.

The Portal, an installation designed by artist Benediktas Gylys, live streams silent video between New York's Flatiron South Public Plaza and North Earl Street in Dublin.

The installation, sponsored by the Flatiron NoMad Partnership, the New York City Department of Transportation's Art Program and the Simons Foundation, allows people in the two cities to look at each other in real-time across the 3,000-mile distance.

"We provide an unfiltered meeting above all borders, all labels, and that would invite us humans to reconnect," Gylys told WABC-TV.

Interactions witnessed through the Portal since it went live on Wednesday include the expected exchanges of rude gestures as well as at least one caught-on-camera attempt to flirtatiously exchange contact information.

Another exchange in a photo shared by the University College Dublin featured a native New Yorker who attends the school using the Portal to connect with her mother back home.

"We think just simple communication, whether it's a wave, a hi, a sign, a dance, that's what people are about," said James Mettham of the Flatiron NoMad Partnership.

The Portal will continue to connect the two cities 24 hours a day for the next six months.

Copyright 2024 by United Press International