Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork
A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a large art piece of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, aged 19, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of damaging property.
In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage showed a individual placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.
A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor said that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes could not be removed without harming the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a valued community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
She added the council would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.
When the sculpture was initially suggested, it drew varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.
Costing A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
