It's an installation at the Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany. It's a work by U.S.-based artist Diemut Strebe entitled "Sugababe" that bridges art and science. It's an ear, specifically a replica of the ear that Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh hacked off. It conforms to the same shape as his through computer imaging technology. It is alive, grown from tissue-engineered cartilage grown at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. It contains genetic material from the van Gogh family. It was not hard to convince Lieuwe van Gogh, the great-great-grandson of Vincent's brother Theo, to donate cells for Strebe's use. It is relayed by her that "He loved the project right away."
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Amazing accomplishment but I think you'll find that Van Gogh did not "hack off" his entire ear, he only cut a piece of the earlobe. There is also good cause to believe it was the result of a fight with Gauguin, not self inflicted, but that doesn't alter the amount of ear removed.
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