Today we took my class to the Body Worlds exhibition at the O2 (the Millennium Dome that was).
Gunther Von Hagens invented the technique of "plastination" to preserve bodies and their parts and use them in displays. There are human and animal bodies in all stages of being stripped down to show their component parts. There are cross sections of parts of the body, showing things like lung cancer and blocked arteries among many other things. It was very interesting, and not nearly as sick-making as this vegetarian feared.
The most amazing item on display was this giraffe.
He split the body in two to reveal the internal organs.
This horse has two riders, and shows various bits of musculature and bone.
This man is carrying his own skin.
This is a pregnant woman with an 8-month baby in her womb.
He displays blood vessels, nerves and any other part of the body you could imagine. There are complete brains, slices of brains, separated hemispheres. You name it, he has preserved and now displays it.
It's amazing. And at least he doesn't have the non-human creatures killed for his art. (It goes without saying he didn't have the humans killed!)
If it comes to an exhibition place near you, you might well enjoy it.
Photos are all from Google.
10 comments:
Absolutely incredible show. I'm glad I saw it, I'm still in awe.....
Fascinating though it is, the plaster casts of people killed by the erupting volcano in Pompeii a couple of thousand years ago still disturbed me, so I think I'll pass on this one.
I went to both exhibitions of Body Worlds (one and two). I loved it! It's really interesting.
Wow, wish I could see this in person. Thanks for sharing!
I've heard about this exhibit before but have not yet seen it. I think I would like to see it someday.
I've seen bits from his exhibitions on TV,and found them incredible...but whether I could look at them in the flesh,so to speak,is another matter..but I'd like to try :-)
For some reason this reminds
me of that scene with the
horse in "The Cell".
that exhibition has been cancelled in germany because people got very upset and said it is way too cruel.
i, personally still don't know what i should think about.
ah, and yes, reminds me of 'The Cell', too.
My husband and I got to see this when it was in the Houston Texas Museum. It was fascinating. It was really interesting and I actually learned a few things that I had no clue about. It didn't make me feel squeemish at all actually. The even had a set up of some guys sitting at a table playing cards. The horse was cool too. One side was just a regular horse and rider, then the other side was the insides, muscles and such. If you ever get a chance to see it, it is definately worth braving the thought of the whole thing.
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