Young Australian Charged for Supposedly Placing Googly Eyes on ‘Cast in Blue’ Sculpture
A young person from the Land Down Under has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a large blue sculpture of a legendary being by applying googly eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, appeared via phone at the local court in South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of property damage.
In a statement at the time of the September incident, the municipal authorities explained that CCTV footage showed a person placing fake eyes on the artwork, which residents have nicknamed the “Cast in Blue”.
Ms Vanderhorst did not enter a plea and told the court she was ill, as reported by news outlets, with the magistrate recommending her to secure a lawyer before her upcoming hearing in the final month of the year.
The following day the alleged incident, the local mayor stated that restoration to the much-loved community sculpture would be expensive as the stickers could not be detached without damaging the art piece.
“This wilful damage to a valued public artwork is unacceptable and disrespectful,” City of Mount Gambier mayor remarked in September. “It is not innocent amusement, it is costly - it is also frustrating to those people of our society who have embraced Cast in Blue.”
The mayor said the council would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those responsible for the vandalism.
At the time the artwork was first proposed, it drew varied responses from the local community due to its cost and design.
Costing A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the sculpture depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial discovered in nearby caverns that was “massive, lumbering and fascinating”.
