Young Australian Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being 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 moment of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the court she was unwell, according to media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor said that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be detached without harming the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
She added the council would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.
When the sculpture was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and design.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
