Has anyone visited Bodies The Exhibition?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Monique
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    bodies
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
Sign up Log in
17 replies · 3K views
Monique
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
Messages
4,229
Reaction score
61
Bodies The Exhibition, has anyone ever visited that exhibition? It's coming to Amsterdam in a few weeks time http://www.bodiesamsterdam.nl/ and I'm pretty excited to be able to see the anatomy of real bodies, though it must be a really strange experience with the fact that you are looking at an actual person.
 
Biology news on Phys.org

Discussion

I've only see them on tv. That guy did incredible work.
 
I heard that there was some dust hanging off some of them (by friends who saw it when it was in Denver)

I do like reading about it in Mary Roach's "Stiff" -- a good read about donating your body to science and other things you can do with your remains or the remains of a loved one...
 
Oooh is this that Gunther von Hagens thing? I watched the TV series, some of the preserved corpses are incredible. It's worth going to see just to see the circulatory ones.
 
I've only heard about it, and seen some TV coverage. You'll have to let us know after you see it if it's really done tastefully to be educational, or if it's just popular for being shockingly controversial.
 
Moonie, I was dubious at first. But some of the exhibits were truly breathtaking. The one which impressed me most was the circulatory system; every blood vessel had been filled with the plastinationy goo stuff (dyed red) and the bones and flesh then dissolved away. The detail of the tiniest capillaries is preserved, it's truly stunning.

I think the only reason for the controversy is that the guy who invented the technique is incredibly creepy, and the way that he deals with corpses in such a matter-of-fact manner is probably a bit too callous for some people. But truly educational exhibits; many healthcare professionals I know have been similarly impressed.
 
Thanks for the insight, Brewie! I'm not sure of any better way to deal with corpses than "matter of factly." I guess an outsider would be uncomfortable with a gross anatomy lab as well. I got the impression that people were also shocked because they were thinking of it as a "shock art" exhibit rather than as a science or even art of science exhibit.
 
Is there an English version of that link? I can't even figure out what to click on. :confused:
I'd certainly go see it if it comes around here.
 
I think many people do think of it as a 'shock art' exhibit, and I'm sure that a good proportion of its visitors aren't overly interested in anatomy, or the plastination technique. However, I don't think that any of this negates its educational value; I'm sure you wouldn't be disappointed if you visited the exhibition (or found the "anatomy for beginners" TV series).
 
My parents saw it when it was in Philly (I really should have seen it - it was here for like a year). They said if you aren't of the right mindset going in, it may seem like shock-art, but it isn't meant to be that way. It was interesting and unusual and they really liked it.
 
Thanks, Brewski. It's kinda disappointing that the site is simply to sell tickets and merchandise, but it's a start.
 
I was in Boston when it was at the Science Museum there, but I never went to see it :/
 
Our AP science classes have secured a full-day paid-for visit to the Boston exhibition. We'll see it Nov 28th. I'm a little excited about it.
 
My Chemistry project started off with the process of "plastination". A quite interesting process i might add.
 
Vaslius would be proud. The guy riding the horse holding his skin is pretty cool.
 
The same folks are opening a factory for tours, evidently.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Body-Worlds.html"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
wow -- and the tour factory is in Germany... I'm surprised there weren't regulations.

The plastination was originally being done in China. (This is true -- Dalian, China; I did not intend a politically incorrect reference to the Chinese plastics industry.)