Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork
A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly defacing a large blue sculpture of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, participated via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of damaging property.
Officials commented at the moment of the September incident, the local council said that surveillance video showed a person placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused made no plea and informed the court she was unwell, as reported by media sources, with the judge recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes could not be removed without damaging the art piece.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have embraced the Blue Blob.”
She said the local government would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the damage.
At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the creators influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
