Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork
A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, facing with one count of property damage.
Officials commented at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage showed a person placing fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused did not enter a plea and informed the court she was ill, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that restoration to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without harming the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor 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.”
The mayor said the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.
When the artwork was initially suggested, it drew varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.
Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
