Australian Teen Charged for Allegedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork
A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a sizable blue sculpture 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 that day, facing with a single charge of property damage.
In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the local council said that CCTV footage showed a person putting fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to find a lawyer before her next court date in December.
The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
She said the local government would seek the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.
At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
