"Gunther von Hagen's BODY WORLDS" Exhibit!

[Lauri D]

The Anatomical Exhibit of Real Human Bodies! (http://californiasciencecenter.org/Exhibits/Weingart/BodyWorlds/BodyWorlds.php)

This looks totally cool! It's at the California Science Center in L.A. I've never seen anything like this before and really want to go.

From the site: At BODY WORLDS, you experience the power and vulnerability of the wondrous human body. Authentic specimens reveal the complexities and individuality of the body that simply can't be shown on conventional models. Perhaps most amazing are the exhibit’s full-body plastinates—many displayed in dynamic poses.

Apparently they use a technique called "plastination" to preserve the bodies and make them "exhibit-able": From Plastination to Fascination

Dr. Gunther von Hagens at work

It takes an average of 1,500 hours to transform a corpse into a full-body plastinate. But the resulting specimen is everything that a conventional model is not – an intricate and authentic representation of the once living human body. Plastination is a vacuum process in which a body’s water and fat content are replaced by fluid plastic, which later hardens to retain all tissue structures. The German anatomist Dr. med. Gunther von Hagens invented plastination in 1977. The technique allows the general public to enjoy fascinating insights previously available only to medical students in dissection rooms.

Anyway just thought I'd share. I hope to make it up there, if I do I will report back!

Oh, and if anyone has already seen something like this, how was it? Creepy? Cool?

[viscousmemories]

Whoa, freaky! I wonder how long it'll be before it's reasonably affordable to plastinate your loved ones to keep 'em around after they die. Dr. Gunther and the people of Real Doll need to get together stat. :P

[Lauri D]

Whoa, freaky! I wonder how long it'll be before it's reasonably affordable to plastinate your loved ones to keep 'em around after they die. Dr. Gunther and the people of Real Doll need to get together stat. :P Ewww!!! :eek: You have a sick, sick mind, Tom. I love that about you ;)

[livius drusus]

That is a cool exhibit, Lauri. The process is macabre and fascinating. It reminds me of an HBO special (http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/corpse/) I saw about a dead row inmate who donated his body to science and became the first complete, explorable 3D model of a human being online.

The IMAX movie (http://californiasciencecenter.org/Imax/Features/HumanBody/HumanBody.php) that complements the exhibit looks awesome too.

[Leesifer]

I went to see this twice when it was in London - luckily I work round the corner from where the exhibition was.

I'd recommend it to everybody - absolutely fascinating.

[pzmyers]

There are some disturbing ethical problems to the exhibit, though. Apparently, there is a possibility that some of the cadavers were obtained from Chinese executions, and von Hagen's 'factory' for processing bodies is based in China, where he can get corpses cheap.

What I've seen of the exhibit, it doesn't look particularly educational. Maybe in the generic sense of getting people more comfortable with guts on display, but otherwise it seems more sensational than educational.

[livius drusus]

There are some disturbing ethical problems to the exhibit, though. Apparently, there is a possibility that some of the cadavers were obtained from Chinese executions, and von Hagen's 'factory' for processing bodies is based in China, where he can get corpses cheap.

Ugh and double ugh. I glanced around and found this AP article (http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=1489) about Chinese corpses with bullet holes in their skulls. It seems to be still under investigation. This article (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,668874,00.html) mentions a dubious consignment of Russian corpses:

Last year he took a consignment of 56 corpses from the Medical Academy in the Russian city of Novosibirsk. Some were believed to be from prisoners, homeless people and the mentally ill whose bodies were unclaimed after they died.

He also has a plastination center in Kyrgyzstan and was investigated by a Kyrgyzstani parliamentary committee last year for ultrashady corpse dealings. From here (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Gunther%20von%20Hagen):

In October 2003, a parliamentary committee in Kyrgyzstan investigated accusations that von Hagens had illegally received and plastinated several hundred corpses from prisons, psychiatric institutions and hospitals in Kyrgyzstan, some without prior notification of the families. Von Hagens himself testified at the meeting; he said he had received nine corpses from Kyrgyzstan hospitals, none had been used for the Body Worlds exhibition, and that he was not involved with nor responsible for the notification of families.

What I've seen of the exhibit, it doesn't look particularly educational. Maybe in the generic sense of getting people more comfortable with guts on display, but otherwise it seems more sensational than educational.

The man holding his own brain kind of poses definitely strike me as less than educational, but I'm sure there's a lot to be learned wrt to anatomy and health. Leesifer, what did you find fascinating about the exhibit?

[Leesifer]

Perhaps I'm a bit of a sicko but seeing all the muscles, veins, etc and how they all fit together was very interesting.

There was also a huge plastinated racehorse.

The exhibits are in different poses showing how each muscle group works.

None of the information about how he comes by the bodies had been made known when I went but I still think I would have gone to see the exhibition.

There were some sections that may not be for the faint-hearted with aborted babies with various deformities in jars and smokers may not want to see how their lungs probably look (being a smoker myself that was a bit nasty, although it didn't stop me lighting up as soon as I left!).

[livius drusus]

There were some sections that may not be for the faint-hearted with aborted babies with various deformities in jars and smokers may not want to see how their lungs probably look (being a smoker myself that was a bit nasty, although it didn't stop me lighting up as soon as I left!).

Hmmm... Sounds a tad carnie/P.T. Barnum to me. Not that there isn't valuable info one can take away from it, mind you, but it doesn't seem like a bit of shock value for its own sake thingy.

So pz, what's the difference between sensationalism and education when the topic itself (innards, in this case) is potentionally disturbing?

[lisarea]

Whoa, freaky! I wonder how long it'll be before it's reasonably affordable to plastinate your loved ones to keep 'em around after they die. Dr. Gunther and the people of Real Doll need to get together stat. :P

Someone else already thought of that. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328077/)

I don't care if I'm giving plot points. We watched it last night, and it sucked.

PS: I interviewed for a job on that Visible Man project or whatever they called it. It was pretty cool. IIRC, they froze the body, then sliced it micro-thin, digitized the images, and virtually reconstructed it into a 3D model.

[Ronin]

Someone else already thought of that. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328077/)

I don't care if I'm giving plot points. We watched it last night, and it sucked.

PS: I interviewed for a job on that Visible Man project or whatever they called it. It was pretty cool. IIRC, they froze the body, then sliced it micro-thin, digitized the images, and virtually reconstructed it into a 3D model.

Oh, Man.

Disassembled humans - great.

If I see another one of those...

:yawn:

Damn good thing I didn't become a gynecologist I suppose.

So pz, what's the difference between sensationalism and education when the topic itself (innards, in this case) is potentionally disturbing?

Marketing and profit margin?

[livius drusus]

PS: I interviewed for a job on that Visible Man project or whatever they called it. It was pretty cool. IIRC, they froze the body, then sliced it micro-thin, digitized the images, and virtually reconstructed it into a 3D model.

It was cool, actually, and the documentary was really compelling: both the science and the volunteer's personal story.

Marketing and profit margin?

Both valid standards, imo; although in this day and age of corporate sponsorship of Pompeiian excavations, they might be hard to delineate.

[Ronin]

Both valid standards, imo; although in this day and age of corporate sponsorship of Pompeiian excavations, they might be hard to delineate.

I have to admit...death can be decent job security.