Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of property damage.
In a statement at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that surveillance video showed a person placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
The following day the reported event, the local mayor stated that repairs to the popular public artwork would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without harming the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
The mayor added the council would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
