Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, aged 19, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with one count of property damage.
In a statement at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video showed a individual putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the court she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the judge recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
A day after the alleged incident, the city leader stated that repairs to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without harming the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She added the council would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
