Australian Teen Charged for Allegedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork
A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of damaging property.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a person putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused did not enter a plea and informed the court she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate recommending 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 popular community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
The mayor added the council would pursue the “substantial” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.
At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and design.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
