Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of property damage.
Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the local council explained that CCTV footage captured a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the judge advising her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in December.
The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
She added the council would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.
At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.
Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
