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U.S.|Thanks to a Prank, Sculptures Make Googly Eyes at Oregon Residents
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/14/us/googly-eyes-sculptures-bend-oregon.html
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The eyes were attached to eight installations, to the delight of residents. City officials, who lamented the cost of repairs, were less amused.
Dec. 14, 2024, 4:06 p.m. ET
If you travel through Bend, Ore., and have the feeling that you’re being watched, it’s not a stroke of paranoia: Googly eyes were affixed to eight public art sculptures around the city, to the chagrin of some local officials but to the delight of many residents.
Beginning in August, the culprit or culprits, nicknamed the Googly Eye Bandit by local news outlets, placed the eyes on works of art in the city’s Roundabout Art Route, which snakes through the area and features 27 installations made by artists from around the world.
Among the installations that were hit: a family of deer, looking truly lost in the headlights; a six-foot sphere that was brought to life and given a touch of whimsy; and a red phoenix, one of the oldest installations, which took on an air of bewilderment.
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“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,” the city wrote this month on social media.
Some residents viewed Bend’s statement as dampening a bit of entertainment in the city of more than 100,000 people.
