Artist uses DNA to recreate live replica of van Gogh’s ear
Many know Vincent van Gogh as a brilliant impressionist painter, whose many works are displayed in museums across the world. Van Gogh has also come to embody the quintessential tortured creative genius — notorious for cutting off his left ear in a fit of madness in 1888.
A different museum exhibition showcases the anguished creativity of van Gogh in a far more unusual way: currently a recreation of van Gogh’s left ear is on display at The Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Artist Diemut Strebe used cells from the great-great grandson of van Gogh’s brother, Theo, and other DNA to construct a living replica of the ear. The ear was created using a 3D-printer and was grown in Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, she explains. It is currently being kept alive inside a case full of nourishing fluids, according to the Associated Press, and could “theoretically last for years.”
Vincent van Gogh’s descendant, Lieuwe van Gogh, was readily interested in the project. Also an artist, he was intrigued by the project, and willingly donated a tissue sample (cartilage) taken from behind his ear. “He liked the idea right away, so it wasn’t hard to convince him,” said Strebe. Lieuwe shares a sixteenth of Vincent’s DNA, including the Y chromosome passed down through the male line.
The project, which is a combination of science and art, is part of the work “Sugababe,” and was first presented on May 30. As part of the exhibit, viewers can speak to the ear through a microphone. Once the sound moves through the solution of nutrients and hits the ear’s artificial nerves, the words change and the sound — as the ear hears it — is then produced in an audio installation.
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Vincent van Gogh’s ear was cut off while he was being tortured.
