Australian Teen Faces Charges for Allegedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of property damage.
Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council said that surveillance video showed a person putting fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a legal representative 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 popular public artwork would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without harming the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She said the local government would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.
When the artwork was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and design.
Costing A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
