Australian Teen Charged for Allegedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of property damage.
Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a person putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the judge recommending her to secure a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.
The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the popular public artwork would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
The mayor said the local government would seek the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.
When the artwork was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.
Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
