While visiting Atlanta this past weekend, I saw BODIES… The Exhibition. It was perhaps the most fascinating, engaging, and creepy tour of science that I have ever seen.
The exhibition’s goal is to offer an educational perspective on how the body works. In practice, visitors initially see individual, isolated body parts, including a spleen, heart, and brain. Soon after, complete human corpses are displayed, each arranged in a particular pose (for example, one is shooting a basketball, another is catching a football). The bodies are naked and scientists completed various stages of dissection for each, exposing skin, fat, muscle, veins, nerves, bones, and internal organs. Eventually, visitors see complete representations of the nervous, respiratory, and reproductive systems. Everything shown was once alive.
To create the display, scientists used a unique preservation and presentation process: bodies are immersed in acetone (which eliminates water), placed in a bath of silicone, and then sealed in a vacuum chamber. Then, the acetone leaves the body and is replaced by silicone. Finally, a catalyst is applied, which hardens the final result (the bodies feel like plastic). The preserved bodies do not decay.
It’s difficult to fully describe these bodies in words–even pictures aren’t really sufficient; it’s best to see it all in person. However, here’s a short clip (broken into two parts):
And part 2:
There is some controversy about the bodies themselves–the show’s sponsor, Premier Exhibitions, says they received the bodies ligitimately from a medical University in China. Apparently the bodies died of natural causes but were never claimed.
It’s worth noting that, while graphic, the displays were tasteful and felt appropriate. If you’re in Atlanta (there are also similar shows in London, NYC, Tampa, and Philly [thanks, Fortino]), I highly recommend taking a look.
There’s one in Philly as well…
Left by Fortino on April 27th, 2006