Australian Teen Faces Charges for Supposedly Attaching Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Artwork
A teenager from the Land Down Under has appeared in court after allegedly defacing a large art piece of a mythical creature by affixing googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated remotely at the local court in the state of South Australia on that day, facing with one count of damaging property.
Officials commented at the time of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage captured a person putting artificial eyes on the artwork, which residents have dubbed the “Cast in Blue”.
The accused made no plea and informed the court she was ill, according to media sources, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in December.
The following day the reported event, the local mayor said that repairs to the popular community sculpture would be costly as the stickers were impossible to be removed without damaging the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is unacceptable and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in mid-September. “It is not harmless fun, it is pricey - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
She added the local government would seek the “significant” repair costs from those accountable for the damage.
At the time the artwork was initially suggested, it drew 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 ancient anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
