Young Australian Faces Charges for Supposedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, charged with one count of damaging property.
In a statement at the time of the recent event, the local council explained that CCTV footage captured a individual putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the court she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her next court date in December.
The following day the alleged incident, the city leader stated that repairs to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
The mayor said the council would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and design.
Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
