Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated remotely at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of property damage.
Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that CCTV footage showed a person placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the court she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the judge advising her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.
A day after the alleged incident, the city leader said that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without damaging the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
The mayor added the council would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.
When the artwork was initially suggested, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and appearance.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
