Passions: Damien Hirst TV - William Oldys - William Shakespeare - The Fly 1958 - The Fly 1986 - David Attenborough TV - After Life: The Strange Science of Decay TV - Exodus 8:21 - Ecclesiastes 10:1 - Alexander Pope - J G Ballard - Ethel Lilian Voynich -
I imagined myself as one of those flies … ‘Flies become just like points in space’ [Hirst]. Passions: Damien Hirst by Harry Hill, Sky Arts 2018
Busy, curious, thirsty fly,
Gently drink, and drink as I;
Freely welcome to my cup. William Oldys, The Fly, 1732
But? How if that fly had a father, brother?
How would he hang his slender gilded wings
And buzz lamenting dirges in the air!
Poor harmless fly,
That with his pretty buzzing melody
Came here to make us merry – and thou hast killed him! William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus III ii 60-65, Titus to Marcus
And, though he in a fertile climate dwell,
Plague him with flies. William Shakespeare, Othello I i 70, Iago
I’ve killed Andre. The Fly 1958 starring Vincent Price & David Hedison & Patricia Owens & Herbert Marshall & Kathleen Freeman & Betty Lou Gerson & Charles Herbert et al, director Kurt Neumann, Helene
We both have more money than we know what to do with. ibid. Francois to rozzer
They wouldn’t harm anything: not even a fly. ibid.
I can transport matter, anything, at the speed of light perfectly. ibid. Andre
The search for the truth is the most important work in the whole world and the most dangerous. ibid. Francois
I’m working on something that will change the world. The Fly 1986 starring Jeff Goldblum & Geena Davis & John Getz & Joy Boushel & Leslie Carlson & George Chuvalo & David Crronenberg et al, director David Cronenberg, him to her opening line
I can only teleport inanimate objects. ibid.
Something went wrong, Seth. ibid. her to him
Fusion of Brundle and Fly at Molecular-Genetic Level. ibid. computer
I’m pregnant with Seth’s baby. ibid. her to boss/exboyfriend
The ultimate family. ibid. him to her
Flies don’t fly at night. David Attenborough, The Private Life of Plants: Flowering, BBC 1995
The all-pervading hideous stink of decay. After Life: The Strange Science of Decay, BBC 2011
Rotting meat is far more dangerous to us than rotting vegetable. ibid.
The flies are flying ‘under the influence’. ibid.
Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. Exodus 8:21
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour. Ecclesiastes 10:1
Why has not man a microscopic eye?
For this plain reason, man is not a fly. Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism, 1711
Flies crawled across the oil-smeared windshield, vibrating against the glass. The chains of their bodies formed a blue veil between myself and the traffic moving along the motorway. I turned on the windscreen wipers, but the blades swept through the flies without disturbing them. J G Ballard, Crash p204
Then am I
A happy fly,
If I live
Or if I die. Ethel Lilian Voynich