Young Australian Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A young person from Australia has faced legal proceedings after reportedly vandalizing a large art piece of a legendary being by affixing plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, aged 19, appeared via phone 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 local council explained that CCTV footage captured a person placing fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have dubbed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused made no plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to media sources, with the magistrate advising her to find a legal representative 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 public artwork would be costly as the adhesive eyes could not be detached without harming the art piece.
“This intentional vandalism to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those members of our society who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
The mayor added the council would pursue the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.
At the time the sculpture was first proposed, it received mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and design.
Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the artwork represents a mythical megafauna, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an ancient marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
