Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork
A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of property damage.
Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video captured a person putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed 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 advising her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.
The following day the reported event, the city leader said that repairs to the popular public artwork would be costly as the stickers could not be detached without harming the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
She said the local government would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.
At the time the artwork 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 artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
