Young Australian Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork
A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with one count of property damage.
Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video showed a individual placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the judge she was unwell, according to media sources, with the magistrate advising her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in December.
A day after the alleged incident, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without harming the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a valued community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
She added the council would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.
When the sculpture was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance.
Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
