Young Australian Charged for Allegedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, charged with a single charge of damaging property.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage captured a individual putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the judge she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in December.
A day after the reported event, the city leader stated that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be removed without harming the art piece.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
The mayor added the council would seek the “substantial” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.
At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and design.
Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
