Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork
A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of damaging property.
In a statement at the time of the recent event, the local council said that surveillance video captured a individual placing fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused made no plea and informed the court she was unwell, according to media sources, with the judge advising her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in December.
A day after the reported event, the city leader stated that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without harming the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
The mayor said the council would seek the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.
At the time the artwork was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.
Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
