Egg

The egg is a universal symbol of life across cultures and religions––and then of hope, purity, prosperity, and engineered perfection. The simplicity of both the object and the word hides a wondrous complexity of meanings and values. As a food versatile in its uses and rich in flavor while also being nutritionally lavish, the chicken egg finds its place both in meals of decadence and of scarcity. At the global scale, it is so fundamental to every table as to have called for massive industrial production, with great ethical and ecological consequences. As a design feat, its shell is fragile yet strong, engineered to be broken by a hatchling from within but not by an adult that sits atop. More broadly, the egg cell is the progenitor for all forms of animal life, and is thus a symbolic center for many contentious debates around motherhood, genetics, and the question of what constitutes life. The egg even further complicates our notions of time itself––see the pervasive chicken-or-egg dilemma, for instance––as an object that paradoxically becomes its own cause and effect. And these are only a few angles of approach. With its complexities and contradictions, the egg can lead to an examination of some of society’s most ancient and most urgent quandaries.

We will pose the following questions: With so much of the food we eat relying on the ingredient of eggs, what are the potential consequences of their scarcity? Can the egg be a tool to lift people out of poverty? Can they ever become scarce? What are the many manifestations of the egg as a semiotic gateway? What can we learn from the ways in which the use of eggs changes across cultures? What can engineering and material science learn from the egg shell? What can nature teach us about efficiency in design? What is perfection? How is motherhood defined? Can the value of an egg cell be defined, and who should benefit from it? Is there a point at which human intervention in the process of reproduction becomes unethical? What is the role of the egg in the narration of evolution? And in the process of transformation?

This Salon took place on December 5, 2023