Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after reportedly defacing a large art piece of a legendary being by affixing googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of damaging property.
Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage showed a individual putting artificial eyes on the sculpture, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to find a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
A day after the reported event, the local mayor said 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 public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our community who have welcomed Cast in Blue.”
The mayor said the local government would pursue the “substantial” repair costs from those accountable for the vandalism.
When the sculpture was first proposed, it drew mixed reactions from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.
Priced at 136,000 Australian dollars (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; £68,000), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the creators influenced by an ancient marsupial ant-eater discovered in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
