Australian Teen Charged for Allegedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, 19 years old, appeared remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, facing with one count of property damage.
Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that surveillance video captured a individual putting fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused made no plea and told the court she was ill, according to media sources, with the judge recommending her to secure a legal representative before her next court date in the final month of the year.
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 were impossible to be detached without damaging the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
The mayor said the local government would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was initially suggested, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork represents a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in nearby caverns that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
