Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Placing Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a sizable blue sculpture of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, charged 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 putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused did not enter a plea and informed the court she was ill, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to find a legal representative before her next court date in December.
A day after the alleged incident, the city leader said that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the sculpture.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
She added the council would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.
When the artwork was initially suggested, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its cost and design.
Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.