Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a sizable art piece of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared via phone at the local court in South Australia on that day, charged with one count of property damage.
In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities said that surveillance video showed a individual placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the judge she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her next court date in the final month of the year.
A day after the alleged incident, the city leader said that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
The mayor said the local government would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.
When the sculpture was initially suggested, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its price tag and design.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
