Australian Teen Faces Charges for Allegedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture
A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of property damage.
Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage captured a individual putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused did not enter a plea and told the court she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate advising her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
A day after the alleged incident, the city leader said that repairs to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our community who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
She said the council would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.
When the artwork was first proposed, it received varied responses from the local community due to its cost and design.
Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
