Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A teenager from Australia has appeared in court after allegedly vandalizing a large art piece of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared remotely at the local court in South Australia on that day, charged with one count of property damage.
In a statement at the time of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video captured a individual placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the judge she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the judge advising her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.
A day after the reported event, the local mayor stated that repairs to the popular public artwork would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without harming the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
The mayor added the local government would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.
At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its price tag and design.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
