5/1/2004: Skin gun

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No, it's art: the above gun is made out of skin wrapped over a gun-shaped frame.

But not just any skin; it's the human skin of the actual artist, Dutch woman Joanneke Meester. Actual skin, from her abdomen, taken under general anesthesia: a flap of 20 centimeters (8 inches) long and four centimeters (1.6 inches) high.

"It took me about an hour to make (the pistol) and at a certain point the edge started drying up and you could see a little blood on the skin, congealed," she said.

"If everyone made a pistol from their own skin, I think they would think twice about using a gun. I think there would be less violence in the world," she said. "But it's not that easy. Violence will always exist."

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