Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork
A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of damaging property.
Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video captured a individual placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused made no plea and told the judge she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
A day after the reported event, the local mayor stated that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She added the local government would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.
When the artwork was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.
Priced at 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 discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
