Bird brains damage bird cage art

VANDALS have damaged artsy human-sized birdcages just days after their installation in Perth’s Murray Street.

They had been installed as part of Perth city council’s “Minor Urban Interventions” project to put weird little installations around the city.

It appears a baseball bat or something similar was used to badly damage the cages’ seats shortly after they went in.

Lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi says it’s “very disappointing”.

04. 891NEWS1 — • Human-sized birdcages had to be taken down after they were promptly vandalised. Photo by Matthew Dwyer

“In the few days the birdcages were up they proved to be very popular with the public,” she says.

“It is so unfortunate that beautiful public artwork and infrastructure gets vandalised and damaged.”

She notes the PCC is still looking for its missing gumnut baby sculpture, stolen from the Supreme Court gardens in April.

The cages had been topped with wee kissing birds forming a love heart, referencing the Moreton Bay fig’s history as the “kissing tree” where unmarried Royal Perth hospital nurses would farewell their beaux before heading back to their lodgings at Kirkman House.

04. 891NEWS2 — • CITY workers Gemma Bertrand and Justin Zanetic usually just take their lunch back to the office, but this Tuesday they decided to take a seat at the new outdoor dining room the Perth city council’s put up. It’s part of the Minor Urban Interventions product to liven up the neighbourhood (another one nearby was vandalised days after being installed). The pair say there’s nowhere else to sit around here so it’s good to have a spot where they can have a snack with buddies who’ve brought lunch from home—something cafes often frown on. Voice photographer Matthew Dwyer says in the five minutes he was there another four people and a seagull turned up, so it’s looking pretty popular.

by DAVID BELL

Perth Voice Interactive

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