WTF? Perth Artist ‘Stelarc’ grows a human ear on his own arm
A Perth artist is growing a real human ear on his own arm thanks to stem cell technology, because, why not? It’s art and science – together!
The ear is very real and it’s growing. Stelarc has been injecting his own stem cells into a biodegradable frame on his arm and has been doing so for several years.
In fact, Stelarc has been working on the ear-arm experiment since 1996.
“People’s reactions range from bemusement to bewilderment to curiosity, but you don’t really expect people to understand the art component of all of this,” Stelarc told ABC News Perth.
“The ear is pretty much now a part of my arm, it’s fixed to my arm and it has it’s own blood supply,” he said.
@tweetperth @CurtinUni was lucky enough to hear the story behind it in person! An incredibly interesting individual! pic.twitter.com/dr1UnsqZoP
— Jaimee (@jay_cal1) August 11, 2015
The performance artist and scientist has done some pretty weird stuff over the years and was famous in the 1970’s and 80’s for his antics.
Video: Nine News Perth reports on ‘Ear Man’ – Curtin University Professor and Artist Stelarc
The quirky artist, Stelarc plans to implant a microphone into the ear. Stelarc will be able to hear and communicate through it, and people can login and take a listen from anywhere online.
This ear is not for me, I’ve got two good ears to hear with. This ear is a remote listening device for people in other places,” he said.
“They’ll be able to follow a conversation or hear the sounds of a concert, wherever I am, wherever you are.”
“Increasingly now, people are becoming internet portals of experience … imagine if I could hear with the ears of someone in New York, imagine if I at the same time could see with the eyes of someone in London.”
A Professor at Curtin University, Stelarc has been pushing the boundaries of art and science for decades.
Time Magazine was so inspired by Stelarc, they claimed that experiments like this are shaping the meaning of art and science in the new century.
“21st century art, science, and technology are fusing into a third culture—a new avant-garde. Eventually this fusion— “artsci”—will be known simply as art,” wrote Arthur I. Miller for Time.com in February 2015.
Stelarc is the head of Alternate Anatomies Laboratory at Curtin University.
See his website for more creepy arm ear.
Other crazy things Stelarc has done over the years:
Was empaled by 16 shark hooks and winched into the air in Sydney in 2012
2012 Youtube Video Interview – Perth’s Stelarc
