Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork
A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a mythical creature by applying googly eyes to it.
Amelia Vanderhorst, aged 19, appeared via phone at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of damaging property.
In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage captured a individual placing artificial eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without harming the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a valued community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those members of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
She said the local government would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.
At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it received varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
