Kiwi artist turns bull poo into paper!

WELLINGTON - A Kiwi artist is said to have found a way to turn bull manure into writing paper.

Andrew Reilly, from Bulls, Rangitikei, New Zealand, found that he had an affinity for papermaking during his studies towards his Bachelor of Fine Arts at Whanganui UCOL.

In his research, he found different cultures were making paper from many fibrous materials, including kangaroo poo, wombat faeces and elephant manure.

Back home, he got a couple of bull farmers to allow him to clear their paddocks, but figuring out how to turn raw poo into paper took a bit longer - 15 months in fact, for the smooth transformation to be honed.

First Reilly has to rehydrate the bull patties, covering them with litres of water in plastic buckets and leaving them to soak.

“There’s fibre from grass in there, the bull doesn’t actually process the fibre,” Stuff.co.nz quoted Reilly as explaining.

“It needs a good couple of weeks to soften up the fibre and start breaking down,” he said.

After a fortnight, during which the mixture is stirred occasionally, he sieves the waste from the fibre, the mixture is then cooked in a caustic solution, washed, blended, bleached, sieved out onto a wire frame, and set out to dry.

Most of the paper Reilly manufactures for his business Tenax papers is made from the more conventional material harakeke, or New Zealand flax.

He hopes the bull paper will be a hit with tourists or backpackers, who may be looking for a quirky gift. It’s also proven popular with those looking for an original, handmade effect.

“I have had people who have bought it not because it’s bullshit, because they think it’s beautiful,” he said.

And if not, at least friends are amused with being able to legitimately call him a “bullshit artist”, he added. (ANI)