Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a large art piece of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of damaging property.
Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that surveillance video captured a individual placing fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the judge advising her to find a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
A day after the reported event, the local mayor said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be costly as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without harming the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She added the local government would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.
At the time the artwork was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and appearance.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.