Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, aged 19, appeared remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with a single charge of damaging property.
Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that surveillance video captured a person placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
A day after the reported event, the local mayor stated that repairs to the popular public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without harming the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She added the local government would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.
When the artwork was first proposed, it received varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance.
Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; £68,000), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
