Earplug c. 15th century

Editor: So, this is an earplug, from around the 15th century. It’s anonymous and the medium is sculpture, on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. It has such a basic shape – just a simple stone disc with a hole. What symbolic weight might it have held? Curator: Well, consider the circle itself. Throughout countless cultures, it represents wholeness, eternity, the cyclical nature of life. Even something as seemingly simple as an earplug participates in this ancient visual language. Do you notice anything particular about the stone? Editor: It looks pretty rough and maybe a bit worn. Curator: Exactly. That wear speaks to a human connection, a life lived. It suggests ritual and repetitive action that imprints upon it. Then consider its function: an earplug mediating between the inner self and the external world. It becomes a symbolic boundary. Editor: A boundary…that's interesting. So, not just a practical object, but a kind of…threshold? A portal even? Curator: Precisely. Thresholds operate as spaces of transition in mythology and cultural imagination. By controlling sensory input, are we attempting to shape our internal experience? What does it mean to intentionally quiet certain stimuli and amplify others? The earplug performs the operation. What sounds are being excluded, and why? What noises is it letting through, and why? The answer resides within the symbolic context in which it's been applied. Editor: I see what you mean. I had only considered the functional aspect. Curator: Indeed. It is rewarding when an object helps us remember, think and learn something new.