Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ 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 plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on Tuesday, facing with one count of property damage.
In a statement at the moment of the recent event, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a individual placing fake eyes on the artwork, which locals have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused did not enter a plea and informed the judge she was unwell, according to news outlets, with the judge recommending her to secure 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 popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be removed without harming the art piece.
“This intentional vandalism to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is pricey - it is also frustrating to those people of our community who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
She said the local government would seek the “substantial” repair costs from those responsible for the vandalism.
When the artwork was first proposed, it received varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and appearance.
Costing A$136,000 ($89,000; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture represents a mythical megafauna, with the creators inspired by an prehistoric marsupial ant-eater found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
