Young Australian Faces Charges for Allegedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of damaging property.
Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage captured a individual placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused made no plea and told the judge she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to find a lawyer before her next court date in December.
A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the stickers could not be removed without harming the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
She said the local government would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.
At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.
Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
