Australian Teen Faces Charges for Allegedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of property damage.
Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a individual placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the court she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
The following day the alleged incident, the city leader said that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the art piece.
“This intentional vandalism to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
The mayor added the council would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.
At the time the artwork was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
