How one man turns cow dung into gold

Walter Wolf Windisch has been out in the meadows of eastern Switzerland, collecting cow droppings for a unique artistic project. (SRF/swissinfo.ch)

Windisch uses a bucket to collect the raw material – cow dung – in alpine meadows near the Säntis mountain. He then dries and grinds up the cowpats and mixes them with resin and gold leaf. These are gold plated and stamped with his seal. His creations resemble golden chunks of cheese and bars of chocolate. There are also a few dung hearts, and even schnapps glasses. 

Windisch grew up in Heidelberg in south-west Germany, studied business administration, and has become rather a jack of all trades. He has produced 15 books, worked for Disney, written for magazines, was once art director of a Swiss advertising agency and a games developer. Apart from being an artist, he now works as a product coach for various companies.

Since 1993, he’s been living on the Swiss side of lake Constance.