Residents and officials alike are amused at but also concerned by recent googy eye additions on multiple Bend, Oregon public sculptures. First reported to start along the city’s traffic circle art route known as the Roundabout Art Route featuring 27 displayed pieces in traffic circles throughout the city, they were brought about whimsically.
Some locals appreciate the cheeky touch, while others are concerned about the harm inflicted on the artwork. Those affected include ‘Orb I’, a six-foot sphere by Brandon Zebold; ‘Bueno Homage to the Buckaroo’, a horse sculpture by Danae Bennett-Miller; and ‘Big Ears’, a deer family painting by Joe Halko. The artworks had googly eyes fixed on eight of them altogether.
According to ‘The New York Times’, the city has spent $1,500 in having the adhesive eyes removed already. It now estimates to spend an extra $5,000 in cleaning and repairing ‘Crossroads’, the popular defaced sculpture through graffiti.
City spokesperson René Mitchell said adhesives could pull off the paint, wax or other protective coatings on the metals. When paint on steel is chipped, scratched or removed with adhesives, the steel will rust.
In a move seen as somewhat surprising, Bend police do not appear to be hunting down the perpetrators of this crime. Instead, the police issued an Instagram post asking residents to please stop attaching googly eyes to the city’s sculptures.
The post read: “We love our roundabout art in Bend, so let’s do our part to take care of it. While the googly eyes placed on the various art pieces around town might give you a chuckle, it costs money to remove them with care to not damage the art.”. We definitely don’t approve of the use of wreaths, leis and Santa hats, but let’s avoid adhesives, graffiti, and everything that can harm the artwork.
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The light-hearted post elicited mixed reactions. One user humorously commented that “More googly eyes are needed worldwide,” and another quipped, “Art was vandal-eyesed.” Another person joked, “No way it’s causing any damage especially monetarily. For fox’s sake!” A resident of Bend said that “Bend will become the googly eye capital of the world” if the trend continues.
