Australian Teen Charged for Allegedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork
A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with one count of property damage.
Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage captured a individual putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate advising her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
The following day the reported event, the city leader said that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be removed without damaging the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
The mayor said the local government would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.
At the time the artwork was first proposed, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.
Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
