Australian Teen Charged for Supposedly Attaching Sticker Eyes on ‘Blue Blob’ Artwork
A teenager from Australia has faced legal proceedings after allegedly vandalizing a large art piece of a legendary being by applying plastic eyes to it.
The 19-year-old, 19 years old, participated remotely at Mount Gambier Magistrates Court in the state of South Australia on that day, charged with a single charge of property damage.
In a statement at the moment of the September incident, the local council explained that CCTV footage showed a person placing artificial eyes on the sculpture, which residents have nicknamed the “Blue Blob”.
The accused made no plea and informed the court she was ill, according to news outlets, with the magistrate advising her to find a legal representative before her next court date in December.
A day after the alleged incident, the city leader stated that restoration to the popular community sculpture would be expensive as the adhesive eyes were impossible to be detached without damaging the sculpture.
“This wilful damage to a cherished community art is inappropriate and disrespectful,” Mayor Lynette Martin remarked in September. “It is not harmless fun, it is costly - it is also disappointing to those members of our society who have welcomed the Blue Blob.”
She said the council would pursue the “significant” restoration expenses from those accountable for the vandalism.
When the artwork was initially suggested, it drew varied responses from the area residents due to its cost and design.
Priced at A$136,000 (eighty-nine thousand US dollars; sixty-eight thousand pounds), the artwork depicts a legendary giant animal, with the sculpture’s designers inspired by an prehistoric anteater-like marsupial found in local caves that was “huge, slow-moving, and intriguing”.
