cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15254151

It’s 11am in Dublin and about 30 people on North Earl Street are vigorously waving at a man on an escooter in New York, who stares back at them with a look on his face that suggests he’s not entirely sure what’s going on.

The two cities have just been linked up via a 24-hour live stream as part of the Portals art project. The large circular screen in the middle of the north Dublin street provides a window to the Flatiron South Public Plaza at Broadway (and vice versa) and will remain in place until the autumn.

The Irish Times watched for about an hour on Thursday and in that time, viewers on the Dublin side waved at the New Yorkers, blew them kisses and tried to entice them into dance-offs. The New Yorkers repeated the gestures back; one guy in a blue baseball cap also rolled up his sleeve and flexed his bicep for the camera, another man performed cartwheels.

It took at least half an hour before a guy in a flannel top on the New York side gave the middle finger to the Dubliners, who repeated the gesture back at him enthusiastically.