Australian Teen Charged for Allegedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after reportedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with one count of damaging property.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage showed a individual placing fake eyes on the sculpture, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst made no plea and told the judge she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.
The following day the reported event, the local mayor stated that restoration to the much-loved public artwork would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those people of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
She added the council would seek the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.
At the time the artwork was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and design.
Costing 136,000 Australian dollars ($89,000; £68,000), the artwork 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”.
