Bodies the Exhibition

[proteanmix]

I just saw Bodies yesterday and I highly recommend seeing it if it's in your area.

What was interesting about the exhibit was to see humans and our body parts displayed in ways that are usually reserved for animals and pottery shards from ancient cultures. The bodies where sliced and diced any way you can imagine, with clamps pulling back muscle and tendons so we could see inside.

One thing I noticed is that they used one whole female cadaver in the exhibit. I don't know if a spleen or kidney's former owner was a woman, but I would've liked to have seen more female cadavers. There was some contreversy over how the exhibitors acquired the bodies on display.

I also noticed most of my friends didn't want to see the exhibit because they thought it was too morbid. That thought never crossed my mind, although I got a little squeamish over some parts.

Is it bad to say I really wanted a nice juicy steak after?

 

[rivercrow]

It's coming here in a month and I'm excited. I'm such an anatomy geek.

IIRC, the controversy is mostly around mimics of the original artist.

 

[Ivy]

I just found out about this yesterday. It's here until August. I seem to be the only person I know who wants to see it.

 

[Martoon]

They had this at the Minnesota Science Museum a little while back. Toonia and I saw it. They had a human brain under a glass dome. There appeared to be some kind mold or mildew on one side of the brain stem, which made Toonia really sick. But I explained to her, That's what the Science Museum is for; molding young minds. It didn't seem to help.

 

[Totenkindly]

I've seen stuff about one of the other "Bodies"-copycats (I forget what that one is called).

I'm both unnerved and fascinated by the whole thing. I find the ability to view a real human body in exquisite detail fascinating... but at the same time that damnable empathy sense keeps telling me "This was a real human being, just like you, with hopes and dreams and a life and a name and..." and then I get sort of shaken. Although I'd still go, hands-down, to look. The curiosity is far stronger than the emotional distress.

Many people do seem to think it's morbid, because they can't get past the idea that they're looking at what's left of a REAL human body.

There appeared to be some kind mold or mildew on one side of the brain stem, which made Toonia really sick. But I explained to her, That's what the Science Museum is for; molding young minds. It didn't seem to help.

I'm surprised that your compassion did not for Toonia mushroom into courage for her to continue.

I went with my friend Augustus once, and when we left, I remember chortling to him, "Boy, that was fun Gus!"

 

[Martoon]

I went with my friend Augustus once, and when we left, I remember chortling to him, "Boy, that was fun Gus!"

You sound like a fun guy.

 

[Totenkindly]

You sound like a fun guy.

I'm a' likin' you too!

 

[HilbertSpace]

I absolutely love this sort of thing. I think that the often dry presentation that is given in lectures misses too often the aesthetic that you can get from stepping back. Details are necessary, and the details themselves can have the same complexity beauty that the system has, but it's all too easy to lose sight of the forest in a 350 page dissertation on tree fungus ecology.

I think that this sort of presentation can be used not only to get young people (and older people) excited about science, but that it can also serve as a reminder of the inherent beauty of a system that professionals might occasionally forget.

 

[Geoff]

You sound like a fun guy.

It's scary. I knew what your post would say, before I scrolled down. There's a certain trail to humour sometimes.

Back on topic, I'd love to see the exhibition, sounds interesting. And I don't mind a little mildew on my brain stem

 

[rivercrow]

I just found out about this yesterday. It's here until August. I seem to be the only person I know who wants to see it.

We should go to it together.

Or not. Whateveh.

 

[Ivy]

We should go to it together.

Or not. Whateveh.

I'm game! I was going to go alone but I'd rather have company than not.

 

[Wolf]

Every time I see this thread title, I think it says "Bodies the Exhumation".

 

[Littlelostnf]

They had this at the Minnesota Science Museum a little while back. Toonia and I saw it. They had a human brain under a glass dome. There appeared to be some kind mold or mildew on one side of the brain stem, which made Toonia really sick. But I explained to her, That's what the Science Museum is for; molding young minds. It didn't seem to help.

Wow that was GREAT...molding young minds...ha!! I went to the one at South Street Seaport in NYC and it was fantastic. I was even able to eat afterward and I didn't think I would. I spend what felt like hours looking at the part where all you saw were the circulatory system...also the cross sections of the brains of people who'd had strokes...whoa! how amazing we are...
"in a fear inspiring way we are wonderfully made"

 

[Ivy]

About the controversy:

While the exhibit's representatives claim that all of the bodies were obtained through the Dalian Medical University Plastination Laboratories in China, human rights campaigners point out that Dalian University "[has] had been previously implicated in the use of executed prisoners for commercial purposes".[1] If the bodies are those Chinese prisoners whose bodies were used without their consent, it may be a violation of human rights and of Chinese law.

The "original" show, Body Worlds, is a bit clearer ethically, but there are still some questions. Here's an article about the ethical issues surrounding these exhibits. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5634903

 

[rivercrow]

The ethics on any human body exhibit are always suspect to me.

Dr Hagens' father was an SS officer, which adds another dimension.

 

[Eileen]

so, what do you say, ladies? ready for some good, old-fashioned, ethically questionable fun?

 

[Ivy]

Sounds like a party!

 

[rivercrow]

so, what do you say, ladies? ready for some good, old-fashioned, ethically questionable fun?

Sounds like a party!

Sure!

We might want to consider getting tickets soon, cos it sounds like it sells out fast.

And are we looking at the Nazi-derived show in Charlotte or the Chinese Political Prisoners-show in Durham?

 

[Eileen]

Ivy and I were thinking that the Nazi one might be better (though I heard from someone else--haven't verified it yet--that they're all part of the same exhibit, which has been broken up into a bunch of smaller ones).

 

[Ivy]

Ivy and I were thinking that the Nazi one might be better (though I heard from someone else--haven't verified it yet--that they're all part of the same exhibit, which has been broken up into a bunch of smaller ones).

The Body Works guy has a disclaimer on his website about how he would never get bodies from Chinese prisons. I think there's a rivalry between him and the Bodies: The Exhibition guy. How bizarre, how bizarre.