Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a large art piece of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared via phone at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with one count of damaging property.
Officials commented at the moment of the recent event, the local council said that CCTV footage captured a individual putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and informed the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to secure a legal representative before her upcoming hearing in December.
The following day the reported event, the city leader said that repairs to the much-loved public artwork would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
The mayor added the council would seek the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.
At the time the sculpture was initially suggested, it received mixed reactions from the local community due to its cost and design.
Priced at A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
