( CNN ) -- I 've never really needed an extra ear . But theoretically , I suppose I could grow one with a 3-D science printer and scare children in the park . `` Robots are taking all your future jobs ! You wo n't be better off than your parents ! Earth is becoming unlivable ! Mwahaha ! '' Mind you , the ear would be back at home . These missions are unrelated . But , yes , though it might seem crazy , we now know that this is possible , because a German artist named Diemut Strebe has successfully `` regrown '' Vincent van Gogh 's legendary severed ear . It 's a piece she calls `` Sugababe , '' and is on display at the ZKM Karlsruhe Museum , where you can actually speak into van Gogh 's ear with a special microphone , magically confessing all your secrets to the deceased artist . `` Vincent ... I 'm not wearing pants . '' `` Sir , we know . Please come with us . '' It 's been 126 years since the famous Dutch painter supposedly hacked off part of his ear , but new technology and a little creative thinking managed to bring it back to life . Sort of . Here 's how it worked : . When Strebe came up with her idea , she originally wanted to procure some DNA from an envelope that it was believed van Gogh had once licked . `` Publishers Clearing House . Vincent van Gogh , you may already be a winner . HOT DAMN ! I got ta get this in the mail ! '' However , it turned out that the DNA was n't a match , so she found an actual modern day descendant of Vincent , the great-great-grandson of his brother Theo . Which I 'm sure resulted in a rather awkward phone call . `` Right . Sooooo , I need some of your DNA for this ... ear I 'm building . '' This modern descendent would be Lieuwe van Gogh , who , it turns out , shares a Y-chromosome and one-sixteenth of Vincent 's genome . In case you were wondering , Iggy Pop was not a match . Nobody checked . But I 'm telling you he was n't a match . So , now they had some living cells from Lieuwe ( pronounced : `` Dave '' ) , and that led Strebe to the next step in the process , which was making a mold of van Gogh 's ear with a 3-D printer . The shape was modeled and designed by closely computing photos of van Gogh . And it had to be photos . Despite Vincent 's talent , for an accurate reading , his self portraits were just a little too post-impressionisty . Next , Strebe needed to get her hands on some cartilage cells . Which , I assume , is not something you can do by , say , hitting up your local corner dope pusher or stopping into Trader Joe 's . `` Three bells ! '' Nevertheless , obtained cartilage cells were injected with Lieuwe 's DNA and added to the 3-D mold that had been created with a dissolvable sugar-polymer scaffolding . And there it sat , inside a bioreactor , for several weeks , where , as the scaffolding dissolved , the cells grew , strengthened , and filled in empty spaces . And then ( poof ! ) you had van Gogh 's ear . So long as we have a very loose definition of what we are willing to consider van Gogh 's ear . But we definitely had something . And while the ear now sits suspended in a nutrient solution in Germany , the plan is to move the display to New York in 2015 . By then , though , I 'm hoping we can add a few more famous missing parts to the exhibit , starting with Jerry Garcia 's right-hand middle finger . Which just so happens to be the exact same missing digit as Chicago mayor , Rahm Emanuel 's . ( Fun fact . Bet you did n't know that . ) Look , I 'm no artist . Hell , I think Dogs Playing Poker is one of the greatest cultural achievements in human history . But , that said , I 'm pretty sure a regenerated middle-finger-face-off between Jerry Garcia and Rahm Emanuel would be worthy of its own room at the MOMA next to van Gogh 's ear . But good luck getting the genetics . `` Right . Sooooo , Rahm , I need some of your DNA for this ... middle finger I 'm building . '' Follow @ JarrettBellini on Twitter . See more content with questionable news value at CNN Comedy .
A German artist 3-D animated Vincent van Gogh 's legendary severed ear . Cells were used by the great - great - grandson of Vincent 's brother Theo . The cell now sits in a nutrient solution in a museum in Amsterdam , and will be on display in New York in September .