Young Australian Faces Charges for Allegedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with one count of damaging property.
In a statement at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage showed a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused did not enter a plea and told the judge she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
A day after the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be removed without harming the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
She added the local government would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.
When the artwork was first proposed, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
