Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a large art piece of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of damaging property.
Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a individual putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in December.
The following day the alleged incident, the city leader said that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without harming the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
She added the council would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.
Costing A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
