Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of damaging property.
Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a person placing fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the court she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to find a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.
A day after the reported event, the city leader stated that repairs to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without harming the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said 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 added the council would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.
At the time the artwork was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.
Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
