A 'dead' cat-helicopter that is worth Rs 70 lakh

The value of Orvillecopter, a Dutch work of art transforming a dead cat into a remote controlled helicopter, has surged by almost tenfold after generating both headlines and criticism worldwide.

Bart Jansen, who turning his dead pet cat Orville into a helicopter by attaching motors and propellers, had originally put a price tag of euro 12,500 (Rs 8,68,000) on his art work, which was on display in an art fair in Amsterdam.

Image: Jansen said the Orvillecopter is part of a visual art project which pays tribute to his cat Orville, by making it fly after it was killed by a car. He built the Orvillecopter together with radio control helicopter flyer Arjen Beltman.

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"The work has not yet been sold but we have an offer of euro 100,000 (nearly Rs 70 lakh) on the table," The Daily Telegraph reported Jansen's dealer Geoffrey van Vugt as telling to a Dutch newspaper.

The flying cat, which hogged headlines worldwide, has also been heavily criticised by Dutch animal lovers and the gallery that exhibits it has been daubed with graffiti saying "kill the animal killers".

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The Dutch animal welfare party, which is part of the country's ruling coalition government, has written to the art fair organisers in protest.

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Last year, a Dutch conceptual artist known as Tinkebell was found not guilty of animal cruelty for an exhibit featuring 95 hamsters in exercise balls.

She had also reportedly caused outrage for killing her "depressed" pet cat and turning it into a handbag.

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In Jansen's case, it was reported that he decided to turn Orville into an aircraft because his pet cat and its brother Wilbur, which is still alive, had been named after the Wright brothers -- Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright -- who invented and built the world's first successful plane.