Australian Teen Faces Charges for Allegedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of damaging property.
Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the local council said that surveillance video showed a person placing fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the judge she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
The mayor added the council would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its price tag and appearance.
Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
