# Van Gogh's ear comes back to life - and it's listening **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 11, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-goghs-ear-comes-back-to-life-and-its-listening/737319 "2015-11-11T20:13:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-goghs-ear-comes-back-to-life-and-its-listening/737319/1 "2015-11-11T20:13:15Z")
A [“living” ear made with Van Gogh’s DNA](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-ear-made-with-van-gogh-dna-180957230/?no-ist) is on exhibit at an art gallery in NYC. Go say hello, or play it a Don McLean song. _“Visitors don’t have to merely look at the ear—they can talk into it, too. On her website, Strebe writes that “the input sound is connected to a computer processor, using a software program to generate simulated nerve impulses from the sound signal in real time. They mimic sounds recorded from an electrode inserted into the auditory nerve, when firing.” Noam Chomsky was the first person to speak into the ear after it debuted in Germany last year.”_ Yeah, it used to be a lot pinker and more lifelike. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-goghs-ear-comes-back-to-life-and-its-listening/737319/2 "2015-11-11T20:56:47Z")
After reading the above, how can you not think of this famous hoax, supposedly from 1935? > [@](#): > > Hugh Troy came up with a way to test whether the crowds at the museum were more interested in Van Gogh’s art or his life. He fashioned a fake ear out of a piece of dried beef and mounted it in a velvet-lined shadow box. He snuck this into the museum and stood it on a table in the Van Gogh exhibit. Beside the box he placed a sign: > “This is the ear which Vincent Van Gogh cut off and sent to his mistress, a French prostitute, Dec. 24, 1888.” > > Soon a large crowd was gathered around the ear, ignoring the paintings. Troy, meanwhile, was able to examine Van Gogh’s works in peace. Of course, the story of the event itself is likely a hoax, and it probably didn’t happen > **[Van Gogh’s Ear Exhibited](https://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/van_goghs_ear_exhibited/)** > > The illustrator Hugh Troy was frustrated by the crowds at New York's Van Gogh exhibit, which made it hard for art lovers such as himself to view the works. He was also convinced that most of the people were there out of lurid interest in the man who... Mad magazine remembered – they featured the “Van Gogo ear” in their 1970s parody of a TV show ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-goghs-ear-comes-back-to-life-and-its-listening/737319/3 "2015-11-11T21:00:28Z")
Just because people can talk to this ear doesn’t mean there’s any listening occurring. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-goghs-ear-comes-back-to-life-and-its-listening/737319/4 "2015-11-11T21:22:16Z")
I can talk to my wall without leaving home/ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-goghs-ear-comes-back-to-life-and-its-listening/737319/5 "2015-11-11T21:22:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Just because people can talk to this ear doesn’t mean there’s any listening occurring. If a tree falls in a forest, and only Van Gogh’s cloned ear is there to hear, does it make a noise? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-goghs-ear-comes-back-to-life-and-its-listening/737319/6 "2015-11-12T11:59:38Z")
From the OP title, I thought this would be about the Spanish rock/pop band Oreja de Van Gogh, very popular around 2000-2005, enjoying a recent comeback album and concert tour. The actual subject matter is much more interesting! Reminds me of the Leader’s nose in _Sleeper_. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-goghs-ear-comes-back-to-life-and-its-listening/737319/7 "2015-11-12T12:59:42Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > - Noam Chomsky was the first person to speak into the ear after it debuted in Germany last year."\* What did he say? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/van-goghs-ear-comes-back-to-life-and-its-listening/737319/8 "2015-11-12T16:35:45Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > What did he say? “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.” Either that, or “For some reason I’m craving a ham sandwich.”