Young Australian Faces Charges for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of 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 CCTV footage showed a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused did not enter a plea and informed the court she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.
The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She added the council would seek the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its cost and design.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
