An Artistic—and Gore-Free—Look at a Cow's Insides

A cow's digestive track isn't something one would typically think of as beautiful. However, in this elaborate Rube Goldberg-style contraption, artist Nova Jiang devised a way to show the complexities of processing food in an aesthetically delightful way. Titled simply "Cow," Jiang explains that the project "is an attempt to model the digestive system’s complex mysteries with wooden mechanisms."

[vimeo][/vimeo]

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Chinese-born, New Zealand-raised Jiang makes work where "joy, disorder and improvisation can thrive," and "Cow," in all of its anatomical glory, is a prime example of that. It's good to keep in mind however, that cows have a very different digestive system than our own—which makes it possible for them to thrive on a diet of grass. Here's hoping one day Jiang will give our systems the same clever treatment.