Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A young person from Australia has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of damaging property.
Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that CCTV footage showed a person putting fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused did not enter a plea and told the court she was unwell, according to media sources, with the magistrate advising her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.
A day after the reported event, the city leader said that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
She said the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the damage.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and design.
Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
