nightsky
Lover of Mountains
Has anyone else seen these exhibits? For those who may not have heard of it, it's a traveling exhibit (actually a few different exhibits tour the world simultaneously) of bodies, body parts, organs, etc, plastinated and posed and displayed. After wanting to see this for many years, I finally went to one today. It was pricey, but completely worth it. I've always been interested in anything medical related, anatomy, physiology, and just science in general. So mainly, I went to learn and be educated. I have seen cadavers before during college anatomy classes, but to see the body displayed and dissected these ways was amazing. I was surprised by the 'artistic' qualities a lot of the exhibit pieces also have.
This exhibit focused on the heart and circulatory system. So there were many displays of the circulatory system preserved, with the remainder of the body gone. The result is a fascinating display of thousands of vessels in pose, in the shape of the body they once kept alive. It's beautiful, yet strange, to know that was once a living person. And also, it's very interesting and I found the whole experience profoundly educational. I was told it would take about two hours to see the whole exhibit, but it took me 3.5 hours. I read every little tidbit of info, and really studied every exhibit.
They also the other body systems on display, and had displays of different organs/systems that were both healthy, and then those that were diseased or defective. They also had a few animals on display ( a chicken, lamb, adult and small camels, etc.) My wife had a hard time with the embryo/fetus display. I personally wasn't disturbed by any of it, but it does make one ponder the fragility of our life, and certainly makes one ponder mortality. It also reinforced wanting to be healthy (not that I'm not already). Seeing obese bodies, diseased lungs, hearts, burst arteries, brains with massive strokes, bloated hearts, etc made it 'more real' than just reading about it. I noticed especially at the 'smoking/emphysema' exhibit that several visitors commented they would immediately give up smoking after seeing what it does!
One thing I wish they would have done: Told the history of each person, how they died, and what age they were. It was odd looking at a person posed and split open, but having no idea of the 'person' you were looking at. I would have loved some background on them.
Anyway - if you haven't seen this and it comes to a museum near you, go see it! I cannot recommend it enough.
Here's the main site:
www.bodyworlds.com
Picture database:
http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/media/picture_database.html
No photos were allowed unfortunately. But pictures don't do them justice anyway.
This page has a video that will load at the top - just give it a minute and it will come on automatically:
http://theleonardo.org/bodyworlds/index.php
This exhibit focused on the heart and circulatory system. So there were many displays of the circulatory system preserved, with the remainder of the body gone. The result is a fascinating display of thousands of vessels in pose, in the shape of the body they once kept alive. It's beautiful, yet strange, to know that was once a living person. And also, it's very interesting and I found the whole experience profoundly educational. I was told it would take about two hours to see the whole exhibit, but it took me 3.5 hours. I read every little tidbit of info, and really studied every exhibit.
They also the other body systems on display, and had displays of different organs/systems that were both healthy, and then those that were diseased or defective. They also had a few animals on display ( a chicken, lamb, adult and small camels, etc.) My wife had a hard time with the embryo/fetus display. I personally wasn't disturbed by any of it, but it does make one ponder the fragility of our life, and certainly makes one ponder mortality. It also reinforced wanting to be healthy (not that I'm not already). Seeing obese bodies, diseased lungs, hearts, burst arteries, brains with massive strokes, bloated hearts, etc made it 'more real' than just reading about it. I noticed especially at the 'smoking/emphysema' exhibit that several visitors commented they would immediately give up smoking after seeing what it does!
One thing I wish they would have done: Told the history of each person, how they died, and what age they were. It was odd looking at a person posed and split open, but having no idea of the 'person' you were looking at. I would have loved some background on them.
Anyway - if you haven't seen this and it comes to a museum near you, go see it! I cannot recommend it enough.
Here's the main site:
www.bodyworlds.com
Picture database:
http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/media/picture_database.html
No photos were allowed unfortunately. But pictures don't do them justice anyway.
This page has a video that will load at the top - just give it a minute and it will come on automatically:
http://theleonardo.org/bodyworlds/index.php