Ever wondered what your body looks like on the inside? The controversial "Body Worlds 2"exhibit currently showing at the Museum of Science gives museum-goers an idea.
The traveling exhibit, which will be at the museum until Jan. 7, consists not only of organs but also of full bodies that have gone through a special preservation process called plastination that replaces all bodily fluids and fat with plastic. Dr. Gunther von Hagens, the inventor of plastination, then arranges the body into any position he wants before the plastic hardens.
Some of the poses mimic scientific Renaissance sketches and paintings such as Rembrandt's "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp" (1632), copies of which are put up on larger-than-life screens throughout the exhibit. The entire process takes almost a year, but when it is complete, the result is a real dissected body or organ that can be put on display without any decay.
Unfortunately, while undoubtedly unique, "Body Worlds 2" is probably only worth the $16 ticket if visitors' interests lie in anatomy or pathology.
Although "Body Worlds 2" gears itself towards laymen, including non-technical explanations and fun trivia, it focuses on scientific topics such as the structure of the organ. The exhibit also features some examples of diseased bodies, and some may find the deformities disturbing. The mere presence of full bodies with all their muscles exposed may prove unsettling for the faint of heart.
In addition, several figures still possess hair, nails, eyes, skin and occasionally even facial expressions. There are also animals used in the exhibit, including a young goat, a horse and a camel, all of which may offend some animal-lovers.
However, the most disturbing part of the exhibit is the four- to 28-week-old fetuses and full pregnant woman on display. It's certain to shake the majority of the museum-going public.
If you decide that you can handle it, some of the fully cured bodies are displayed in creative ways. Titled "Drawer Man," one piece has key parts of an otherwise full body pulled out like a dresser drawer, giving onlookers a view of the layers underneath. Many of the bodies are equally dynamic, including figure skaters and a woman in a yoga position. These are arranged in an effort to display the body as a whole. Several of the full figures were arranged to give the sense of where our insides are in relation to everything else, why and how we work, and what can go wrong with our bodies.
An apparent emphasis is placed on the theme of the diseased versus the healthy. Each organ is displayed first in its healthy form and then with various ailments, revealing the secondary goal of the exhibit: to showcase personal mortality and the frailty of human life.
Controversy has always surrounded the exhibit, particularly in 2004, when von Hagens admitted that some of the bodies used in his first "Body Worlds" exhibit may have been those of Chinese political prisoners the government wanted to eliminate. This time around, a wall-length screen proclaims that all the bodies in "Body Worlds 2" were contributions of willful donors who wanted their bodies to be used for educational purposes. There is even a sample of a consent form next to the proclamation to reinforce the validity of the donations. The entire exhibit seems to be above-board, so don't let ethical questions keep you away.
Ethics aside, you should not visit this "Body Worlds 2" if traditional museum exhibits bore you, because that's exactly what "Body Worlds 2" is: a traditional museum exhibit. If you want controversy or art, you would probably be more satisfied with the Museum of Fine Arts. If, however, science is your passion, then this will provide an experience like none other.
