As everyone knows, our university is fairly active in the art business. But since some time there are strange rumours regarding those activities. People say that just recently the deans of the university came together to decide on the question whether or not to buy a most controversial piece of art: It’s called Erika. Who now thinks of Erika as a portrait of a beautiful woman or another Giacometti-like sculpture is barking up the wrong tree. Erika is nothing more than a small insect usually smashed when captured, also known as a fly. And for this little insect the university is ready to pay over CHF 120’000, albeit it’s not the fly itself but its history that makes the price.
Erika comes from a small village located in the North of Germany, where two twin brothers from Switzerland launched a project against insect control in order to find out what the value of a normal house fly is. Instead of killing those annoying little bastards everyone in the village started to save flies. The one who caught the most would win a recreative spa weekend. Almost a thousand flies were caught. Our fly Erika, which was one of them, was chosen to accompany the winners on their trip. When Erika died a few days after the trip she was not burried like all the other flies caught during the project, but primed to function as a representation of the project.
All of this happened two years ago. Ever since Erika has been on exhibitions in different countries and thus has become a real star. So if the rumours proof to be right, you should soon start to look out not to smash the most expensive fly on the campus.
And you know what? Just because it’s a rumour it’s not impossible that there is some truth in it.