Young Australian Charged for Allegedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork
A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of property damage.
In a statement at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage showed a person placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the judge she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate advising her to find a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.
A day after the alleged incident, the city leader said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without harming the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
The mayor said the council would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was initially suggested, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and design.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.