Young Australian Charged for Allegedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on that day, facing with one count of damaging property.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage captured a person putting fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused made no plea and told the judge she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.
A day after the alleged incident, the city leader stated that repairs to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be detached without harming the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
The mayor added the council would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.
At the time the sculpture was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
