Australian Teen Charged for Allegedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of property damage.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a person putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused made no plea and told the judge she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her next court date in December.
The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor said that restoration to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the art piece.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She said the council would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.
Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient anteater-like marsupial found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
