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The municipal authorities in Bend have already spent 1,500 dollars to remove the painted eyes from the structures.
The comedy eyes were first spotted in the city’s Roundabout Art Route. (Photo Credit: Instagram)
Googly eyes have been appearing on several public art sculptures in Bend, Oregon, causing both amusement and concern. The eyes were first spotted along the city’s Roundabout Art Route, which features 27 sculptures in the middle of traffic circles. While some residents enjoy the playful additions, city officials worry about potential damage to the artwork.
The sculptures include Orb I, a six-foot sphere by artist Brandon Zebold; Bueno Homage to the Buckaroo, a sculpture of a horse by Danae Bennett-Miller; and Big Ears, a painting by Joe Halko that depicts a family of deer. Googly eyes were stuck to eight of those statues.
The city authorities have already spent 1,500 dollars to remove the painted eyes from the structures, The New York Times reported. They are likely to spend 5,000 dollars more to wash and restore Crossroads– a popular sculpture which was also vandalised with graffiti.
“Adhesives can pull off the paint, wax or other protective coatings on the metals. If paint on steel is chipped, scratched or removed with adhesives, the steel will rust,” René Mitchell, a city spokesperson, told The Times.
Bend police are reportedly not interested in finding the culprits. Instead, they have dropped a post on Instagram, asking the residents to refrain from sticking such googly eyes on the city’s monuments and sculptures.
“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. While we don’t condone the wreaths, leis and Santa hats, let’s stay away from adhesives, graffiti and all things that can damage the art,” read the caption of the post.
Many users found the idea quite interesting and one of them said, “More googly eyes are needed worldwide.” “Art was vandal-eyesed,” quipped a person. Another user humorously said, “No way it’s causing any damage especially monetarily. For fox’s sake!” A resident of the city feels if this continues, “Bend will become the googly eye capital of the world”.
