Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork
A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of property damage.
Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage captured a individual placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the judge advising her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.
The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that repairs to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
She added the local government would seek the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.
Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
