"Bodies" exhibit

[Cat-a-Tonic]

I just recently went to see the "Bodies" exhibit (I think it may also be called "Body Worlds" or something like that - there may be several different versions of the exhibit touring around). It's where they take human bodies and turn them into plastic (??) somehow and dissect out certain parts so that you can see the muscles, veins, organs, etc.

I thought it was really interesting. It's weird, because I've got this silly phobia of taxidermied animals and I have a really hard time going to places like the natural history museum because I have panic attacks looking at all the dead stuffed animals - but looking at dead, plastinated humans didn't trigger my phobia at all. On some level it registered with me that these are/were people, but it didn't bother me. It kind of weirds me out that I didn't feel more weird about it, if that makes sense.

Has anyone else been to one of these exhibits? Personally, I of course liked seeing the dissected gastrointestinal system. I went to the exhibit with my parents and they were asking me stuff like where my pain is, so I was pointing that stuff out to them. I also thought the veins & arteries of the arm and leg were really neat - it was just the veins & arteries, in the shape of the arm and leg - they didn't allow photographs in the exhibit, so it's hard to describe without a picture, but it was really neat.

Overall, I thought it was a cool exhibit, if you don't mind too much that you are looking at actual deceased people or parts of deceased people. If you are interested in anatomy and what goes on in the human body, it's a must-see. Although I did think the admission price was a bit expensive ($22 for an adult). Anybody else been to one of these exhibits, and if so, what did you think of it?

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

I found this link. The image next to "The Preservation Process" is the arm veins & arteries that I was talking about. Not a very good image, but you can still tell that it's just those veins in the shape of the hand. Really neat, I think.

http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/madison/the-exhibition.html

 

[Rebecca85]

Wow that sounds really cool. I actually starting to think about going, then I saw the price was $22 and remembered you are in USA! Bit far for me to travel! Though I wonder if they will do something in UK?

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

It looks like the exhibition does tour elsewhere although I don't see the UK on the list. On the main page of that link I posted above, it says they are also exhibiting in:

Albuquerque, New Mexico
Atlanta, Georgia
Brasilia, Brazil
Cleveland, Ohio
Las Vegas, Nevada
New York, New York
St. Louis, Missouri
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Winnipeg, MB

So maybe they'll come to the UK sometime, if they go to Canada and Brazil. Looks like it's mostly the US right now though.

 

[dreamintwilight]

I saw it several years ago when it was in Tampa. That was before I was experiencing any Crohn's symptoms though. I also had a terrible fight with my sister over the phone minutes before entering into the exhibit, which was closing in an hour. So, we were a bit rushed!

If it was ever nearby again, I'd go see it again. It's a really cool exhibit!

 

[David in Seattle]

I saw one of the 1st such exhibits at the California Science Center in LA a number of years ago. I thought it was very interesting. There has been some controversy since then however over how the bodies used in the displays were obtained. Apparently, they are Chinese, and many if not most are former prisoners. It's not clear whether or not consent was obtained prior to death, and if any family was informed. Aside from the question of consent, I personally think a dead human is of no greater intrinsic worth than any other animal corpse (I seem to recall there was also a horse prepared & on display, compete with rider), but some might find the possible origins of the bodies and the manner in which they may have been obtained troubling. Wikipedia has a good article on the entire subject HERE

 

[winemaker]

I saw one in Budapest, Hungary in 2008. The bodies were donated by the Chinese prison system. It was so interesting to see different parts of the body literally unfolded.

 

[David in Seattle]

I saw one in Budapest, Hungary in 2008. The bodies were donated by the Chinese prison system. It was so interesting to see different parts of the body literally unfolded.

"Donated" by the prison system. What a concept...

 

[winemaker]

"Donated" by the prison system. What a concept...

Haha! Exactly what I thought. They were probably treated better when they were plastinated than in a Chinese prison.

 

[Lisa]

I saw an exhibit like that (the same one?) in Denver last year while I was out helping my brother after surgery.....met up with a couple of internet/horse friends at the mall the exhibit was at...pretty creepy, but facinating at the same time!.....

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

On the subject of plastination, has anyone read this wacky article?
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7019789210

Apparently Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband wants to have her plastinated when she dies. Maybe that'll become a trend with celebrities, and instead of going to wax museums to see celebrity mock-ups, people could go to museums of actual dead plastinated celebrities.

 

[Dexky]

Hell Cat, they won't have far to go with most celebs anyway!!

 

[Lucy]

I pass on seeing this. Just not my cup of tea. I have heard from friends of mine who have been and liked it.

 

[Shannon]

I'm with Lucy, I could go without ever seeing this exhibit. It sparked a controversy in my city, too. I'm not THAT curious, haha.

 

[ChefShazzy]

Sounds pretty cool; it's in town right now, so I'll have to check it out before it goes!

 

[Dras]

Thats pretty awesome!! I would have loved to see that!

I had the "pleasure" of visiting one of the universities' anatomy museums. What a wacky place. The moment you step into the room there is a body stuck to the wall( actual human corpse) with it's different layers dissected, it was completely like, dried out but still, made me feel a bit uneasy.

The most interesting thing to see was the misformed babies, cyclopse babies, babies with completely formed gills, babies with paper-like skin, etc. Then also the logitudinal sections of the skull and neck. I loved the dried out, dissected arms and hands that were just left there on one counter. The most of their bodies are donated to the uni by the hospitals, it's mostly unclaimed bodies. Pretty sad.

And afterwards we went for mc donalds...lol!

 

[Mountaingem]

I also saw it at the California Science Center a few years ago, I found it very interesting. However I was a little disturbed by the positioning for artistic purposes, ie. the basketball player, the horeseman, etc.

Even though I am an artist and have served as a docent at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, I can't really get behind posed corpses as an art form.

As an educational tool, as most of the displays are, I think it's great. I especially liked the fetus display at each month after conception; and of course the digestive system lol. The exhibit I saw had a large intestine that had toxic megacolon, so that caught my attention for sure! And I can't look at fast food the same after seeing the cross-section dissection of an obese person, yikes.

I didn't hear about the controversial methods of "donation" from China until after I had seen the exhibit; I was disturbed to say the least. But then I'm disturbed at women wearing human hair extentions for vanity "provided" by destitute women in Eastern Europe who sell it just to survive. Maybe I'm just not up with the times, I guess.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Jeannette, that's cool about the toxic megacolon - I would have liked to have seen that! There weren't any obese dissected bodies at the exhibit I was at either, although if the bodies all came from Chinese prisons, that probably explains why. I don't know much about Chinese prisons, but I would expect that there's not much opportunity there to gain a lot of weight - probably a pretty harsh environment with not a lot of high-calorie meals.

Hopefully in the future, the bodies will be gotten by a more ethical/legal means than by "donation" from the Chinese prison system. I just saw an article on CNN today called "10 uses for your body after you die" and one of them was to donate it to be plastinated for an exhibit like this. So it sounds like they're asking for volunteers now, which sounds like a step in the right direction. Here's the article:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/10/28/body.after.you.die/index.html?hpt=Sbin

 

[Mountaingem]

Thanks for the article link Cat. Yes, at the end of the exhibit there was a desk you could go to to learn more about donating your body as well as the necessary paperwork.

 

[Jennifer]

Even though I am an artist and have served as a docent at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, I can't really get behind posed corpses as an art form.

I've seen far worse things happening in the art world today such as watching the progressive death of a dog chained to a wall in a gallery but none of the people who came to the show bothered to feed the animal. Or like at my grad school where a student had two rats in cages who were left without food and water and there was a note saying that you could feed them if you wanted but one of the food and water dishes was poisoned, so no one fed them. I think someone tried to set them free.

The art world itself has become a cesspool for the desire to make money and be famous. I wrote a paper about it in grad school called, "The Whores of the Art World." Needless to say that no one liked my paper.


As for the Bodies exhibit, I haven't seen it in person but have known about it for years. I wouldn't mind seeing it but I'll never pay to go in. There are plenty of pictures of it online and in books and that's good enough for me.

 

[Mountaingem]

I've seen far worse things happening in the art world today such as watching the progressive death of a dog chained to a wall in a gallery but none of the people who came to the show bothered to feed the animal. Or like at my grad school where a student had two rats in cages who were left without food and water and there was a note saying that you could feed them if you wanted but one of the food and water dishes was poisoned, so no one fed them. I think someone tried to set them free.

The art world itself has become a cesspool for the desire to make money and be famous. I wrote a paper about it in grad school called, "The Whores of the Art World." Needless to say that no one liked my paper.


As for the Bodies exhibit, I haven't seen it in person but have known about it for years. I wouldn't mind seeing it but I'll never pay to go in. There are plenty of pictures of it online and in books and that's good enough for me.

Omg-that's horrible! I must admit Crohn's has sidelined my career and I'm ignorant of these types of "displays"; how can they tolerate cruelty to another living creature and call it art? I noticed you're from CA too, is this local?

I think this is horrific and a shameful attempt at being "controversial" to get grant money. I would never compare Body Worlds to that trash!

Good for you Crabby for writing your paper on it, that took guts and I'm glad you exposed it! I don't doubt no one liked it, the art world is full of egomaniacs who think they have moral superiority for sharing their "gift" with the world. And it is rare to find an artist who will condemn another, regardless.

That saddens me that art is being reduced to this...it should make the world more beautiful, or at least enlighten, not bring it to the lowest common denominator.

 

[Jennifer]

Omg-that's horrible! I must admit Crohn's has sidelined my career and I'm ignorant of these types of "displays"; how can they tolerate cruelty to another living creature and call it art? I noticed you're from CA too, is this local?

I think this is horrific and a shameful attempt at being "controversial" to get grant money. I would never compare Body Worlds to that trash!

Good for you Crabby for writing your paper on it, that took guts and I'm glad you exposed it! I don't doubt no one liked it, the art world is full of egomaniacs who think they have moral superiority for sharing their "gift" with the world. And it is rare to find an artist who will condemn another, regardless.

That saddens me that art is being reduced to this...it should make the world more beautiful, or at least enlighten, not bring it to the lowest common denominator.

The rats were in Ca. but the dog one was in Mexico I believe. The idea of the dog one was that the artist picked up a stray dog off the street that was already emaciated and was most likely going to die on the streets anyway along with all the other thousands of stray dogs in the area that died every year. He just brought one into the gallery and chained it to the wall to try and show people what they are allowing to happen (making it more close to home so to speak). I understand it but I don't see it as art in the slightest. More like something a crazy member from PETA would do.

Art doesn't have to make sense at first glance in my opinion (Re: Richard Serra) but it doesn't have to go so far to where its simply just meant for shock value where in most countries you'd be arrested (Re: there was an artist in a European country who killed rabbits, was more like a crush film (don't look that up if you don't know what it is. You'll make yourself sad)).

 

[Mountaingem]

Yes, I definitely agree art doesn't have to make sense; sometimes the beauty is in what each individual personally gets out of it; but as for people abusing animals as art, well,I believe in what goes around comes around.

@ Cat-sorry for jacking your thread :duh:

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Don't worry about it, I get so off-topic myself in other threads so I don't mind when others get off-topic in threads I started.

I'm tempted to google "crush film" as I have not heard of that, but I don't want to make myself sad. Can you give me the fluffiest, nicest definition possible so I don't get curious later and google it?

 

[Mountaingem]

This isn't fluffy, but the PG version of crush films:

Women in stiletto high heels step on small animals; apparently some people get off watching small animals killed that way.

Yeah, you seriously don't want to google it.:thumbdown:

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

How horrible! Now I'm really glad I didn't google it, thanks. What a creepy, awful thing.

Must get my mind off of that. Hey, about this whole plastination thing - I saw this article online today. Plastination's been in the news a lot it seems! Apparently they're now selling plastinated specimens and even turning them into jewelry. I can't imagine they're selling very much jewelry - for one thing, it's expensive, and for another, I would not want to wear chopped up bits of animal genitalia (that's what most of it seems to be) as jewelry. Yuck!

http://www.newser.com/article/d9j5e...stinated-animals-and-human-bodies-online.html

 

[Mountaingem]

No thanks, I'll stick to pearls and diamonds lol!

 

[Jennifer]

I dunno about that kind of jewelry but I am ok with Life Gems. It's where they take your ashes and compress them into a man made diamond. I want to be made into a life gem when I die.

 

[Mountaingem]

Yes, me too, I would love to be turned into a diamond!:thumright:

 

[Nytefyre]

Me and The Muffin went to see Bodies some months back. It was pretty cool!

 

[Jennjenn]

I have wanted to go and see it for the LONGETST time. I might just go by myself if I dont find anyone to go with. Won't be as cheap as going to the Museum of Natural History. I go there many times a year even if I have extra time I go by myself at times.

 

[ChefShazzy]

Ha, Jenn, that's exactly what I'm doing! I don't have anyone here to go with so I am going to see it by myself tomorrow! I'd go with you - only, I'm in Winnipeg. The last day is on Sunday, and I want to see it before it's gone! Hope you get to see it soon!

 

[Jennjenn]

I hope I will see it soon also! Soon soon! Enjoy tomorrow