Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture
A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of property damage.
Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage showed a individual placing fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused made no plea and informed the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to find a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.
The following day the reported event, the city leader stated that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She added the council would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and design.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
