Australian Teen Faces Charges for Allegedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a mythical creature by applying plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, aged 19, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on Tuesday, facing with a single charge of damaging property.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage showed a individual putting fake eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused made no plea and informed the court she was ill, according to news outlets, with the judge advising her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.
A day after the reported event, the local mayor stated that repairs to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers were impossible to be detached without harming the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a cherished public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor said in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
The mayor added the local government would seek the “significant” repair costs from those responsible for the damage.
When the artwork was first proposed, it received varied responses from the local community due to its cost and appearance.
Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers influenced by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
