Australian Teen Faces Charges for Allegedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Sculpture
A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated via phone at the local court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of damaging property.
In a statement at the time of the recent event, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a individual putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused made no plea and told the court she was unwell, as reported by news outlets, with the judge recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.
The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that repairs to the popular public artwork would be costly as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without harming the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
The mayor added the local government would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it received varied responses from the local community due to its price tag and design.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
