Bodies Museum

[grlNIN]

So i went to this exhibit last night at the South Street Seaport and i don't really know how i feel about it.

Once the initial shock of"Wow, those are real bodies" wears off it's kind of lack luster. Then again i am not one for science and biology, that sort of thing. After awhile of looking around in there and then after we got home i started to question whether or not what i had seen were actually bodies.(The full scale ones that were depicted throwing footballs and baseballs, etc).

I'm half sure they were but at the same time they seemed too much like the models you'd see in Health and Science classes. Especially the part of the exhibit with all the fetal demise.


Has anyone else been to this or curious to go? If so what did you think, what are your thoughts about what you experienced?

[topless_mike]

i almost walked into this one time.
glad i didnt. im not really into this, especially knowing its "used" bodies.

[Furtherman]

They're real. Mostly Chinese cadavers that were donated by the government. They might have been executed prisoners (although there are varying reports - some say they are people who died alone with no kin). There is a process they go through to preserve the bodies.

I found it fascinating.

[Badinia]

I liked it, although halfway through the exhibit it became clear that what's interesting about bodies is what's on the outside-once you get the skins off, we all look alike.

The only part that freaked me out a little was looking at the top of the glass cases and seeing that they were open- i.e. little particulates of dead body were goin' up my nose!

I liked the fetal exhibit. Tiny babies are obviously from outer space.

[grlNIN]

We were more curious about the bodies themselves. The way they died, what age they were, etc.

I know it's really fruitless knowledge to have for this sort of thing but i think stuff like that is more interesting than exposed muscles.

I did notice a lot of the bodies were Chinese males. In the fetal exhibit part their were Chinese conjoined twins.

I think the part about that specific area was showing the bone structure/development of the fetus when they injected the red dye. I had to walk past the older stages.

[drusilla]

I'm half sure they were but at the same time they seemed too much like the models you'd see in Health and Science classes. Especially the part of the exhibit with all the fetal demise.



umm, durr?

[grlNIN]

Uhmmmm sorry im notafuckingdoctor?

[Tall_James]

Uhmmmm sorry im notafuckingdoctor?

Whatever happened to imnotafuckingdoctor? Does he still post here?

[Chris from TX]

Was it "Body Worlds" with the plastinated bodies?

I'd find any of these exhibits interesting enough now, but I remember being freaked out when I was about 8 from this kind of thing. A museum in Chicago had these 1/2 inch slices of two humans cut horizontally and vertically, and preserved between glass.

[EffMeBoobs]

We went to the one in Vegas, it was the same reaction as yours....like Wow and then ok lets run through each exhibit.
Once we got to the fetal exhibit I was fascinated because I do fetal ultrasounds so it was neat to see what they look like in real size when I scan them.

[Thebazile78]

I think that the coolest part about it is how they replace the soft tissue and fluids with epoxy compounds.

I read an article in the NY Times about it a few years ago, when the big exhibition was at the Franklin Institute in Philly. . .fascinating.

[grlNIN]

We were wondering most about the eyes. If they were preserved in glass or fake, we assumed they werent fake.

Also, all the eyelashes and some of the eyebrows were still intact.

[Thebazile78]

OK, this is where I get to correct my earlier remark.

Gunther von Hagens, the German anatomist who is responsible for the "Body Worlds" exhibitions worldwide, calls his process "plastination". . .and the tissues are replaced by polymers, not epoxy.

2600 Flock to See Exhibition of 'Real Human Bodies' (July 3, 2004) (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE2DE1F38F930A35754C0A9629C8B 63&scp=44&sq=body+worlds) <- this is a review of the 1st North American stop on the "Body Worlds" tour. . .in California. Before it made its way to Philly.

[Mike Teacher]

I think the show discussed the exhibit a while back.

I think it shows the unfamiliarity we have of our own bodies. I blew off all that anatomy and physiology in school coz it was boring, but when I had to teach it, you begin to like knowing what is wwhere and what it's for [thats, the spleen?? whats a spleen??].

As for how they acquire the bodies; from Bodyworlds:

All anatomical specimens on display in the BODY WORLDS exhibitions are authentic. They belonged to people who declared during their lifetime that their bodies should be made available after their deaths for the qualification of physicians and the instruction of laypersons. Many donors underscore that by donating their body, they want to be useful to others even after their death. Their selfless donations allow us to gain unique insights into human bodies, which have thus far been reserved for physicians at best. Therefore, we wish to thank the living and deceased body donors.

Body Worlds Website (http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/prelude.html)

[Thebazile78]

I think the show discussed the exhibit a while back.

I think it shows the unfamiliarity we have of our own bodies. I blew off all that anatomy and physiology in school coz it was boring, but when I had to teach it, you begin to like knowing what is wwhere and what it's for [thats, the spleen?? whats a spleen??].

As for how they acquire the bodies; from Bodyworlds:

All anatomical specimens on display in the BODY WORLDS exhibitions are authentic. They belonged to people who declared during their lifetime that their bodies should be made available after their deaths for the qualification of physicians and the instruction of laypersons. Many donors underscore that by donating their body, they want to be useful to others even after their death. Their selfless donations allow us to gain unique insights into human bodies, which have thus far been reserved for physicians at best. Therefore, we wish to thank the living and deceased body donors.

Body Worlds Website (http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/prelude.html)

Since I don't listen regularly, this is good to know.

I find things like this, and the Mutter Museum (also in Philly), absolutely fascinating.

Maybe it's because I have a pretty good grip on basic anatomy & physiology.

[Judge Smails]

Not to hi-jack the thread too much, but as long as we're talking about people donating their bodies to science I thought I'd share this little story. My brother-in-law works at The Picatinny Arsenal where they test munitions for the military. We were talking over Christmas and he told me that sometimes in order to gauge the damage that a particular munition will cause to the human body they use cadaver body parts, usually arms and legs.

I found this interesting and asked him where they got the bodies and, like a good little bureaucrat, he said that he had no idea. I can imagine someone donating their body with the altruistic goal of helping humanity, only to have it used to build more efficient bombs.

[TeeBone]

Not to hi-jack the thread too much,

It's kind of your gimmick and before you make an awful comeback about my gimmick, stick to the topic at hand because it is a good one. This is a truly fascinating exhibit. They had it in Tampa almost two years ago and I went. At first it freaks you out but it really is amazing not just to consider the plastification of the process, but thinking about how they removed just the veins and different systems without flesh attached to it is just crazy. The time it must have taken to finish the work is more amazing than the poses they put the dead Chinese men in. It was a bit much when they took some of the men and had them dribbling soccer balls, etc...Chinese
Strange stuff but cool.

[Fezticle98]

Did you get to see the stomach and tumors and everything?

[Fezticle98]

I found this interesting and asked him where they got the bodies and, like a good little bureaucrat, he said that he had no idea. I can imagine someone donating their body with the altruistic goal of helping humanity, only to have it used to build more efficient bombs.

I don't know if most of them do it with the idea of helping humanity. I think they're mostly derelicts who do it for the $20.

[grlNIN]

Did you get to see the stomach and tumors and everything?


I don't think i saw any tumors. Lots of cancer(breast, thyroid, penis-i kid ye not). Also, a couple of blackened lungs(secondary and first hand). Lungs with TB.

[Fezticle98]

I don't think i saw any tumors. Lots of cancer(breast, thyroid, penis-i kid ye not). Also, a couple of blackened lungs(secondary and first hand). Lungs with TB.

It's not a tumor?

[RoseBlood]

Just curious, does anyone remember seeing the giant oversized thumb?

It was towards the end of the exhibit, I dont remember what the condition/disease was.

[Ritalin]

Was it "Body Worlds" with the plastinated bodies?

I'd find any of these exhibits interesting enough now, but I remember being freaked out when I was about 8 from this kind of thing. A museum in Chicago had these 1/2 inch slices of two humans cut horizontally and vertically, and preserved between glass.

The Museum of Science and Industry! With the working coal mine and the U505 submarine. That museum is the best.

I went to the Bodies exhibit 2 weeks ago. It's pretty interesting. They don't really lead you through it with any consistency, you just kind of wander from room to room looking at stuff.

The two things I liked the most were the complete vascular system suspended in fluid. They filled the veins and arteries with some kind of polymer, and then stripped the body away. That was very interesting.

It was also interesting to see how tightly packed your organs actually are in your torso. I mean, it makes sense once you think about it, but it's not like there's a whole lot of room in there. I guess I always just had that childish thought of a a space with some organs floating around, but it's packed tighter then my front hall closet.

[The Jays]

I'm not sure I'd want to see the exhibit just on moral grounds. It's not like these guys were a bunch of Jerry Orbachs, donating their shit to science. It seems more like a classy circus sideshow. Giving away chinese bodies to some weird german dude who wants to inject them with expoxy? It's seems like anything to make a buck to them, no wonder their food has melamine, and their toys have lead in them

[cougarjake13]

So i went to this exhibit last night at the South Street Seaport and i don't really know how i feel about it.

Once the initial shock of"Wow, those are real bodies" wears off it's kind of lack luster. Then again i am not one for science and biology, that sort of thing. After awhile of looking around in there and then after we got home i started to question whether or not what i had seen were actually bodies.(The full scale ones that were depicted throwing footballs and baseballs, etc).

I'm half sure they were but at the same time they seemed too much like the models you'd see in Health and Science classes. Especially the part of the exhibit with all the fetal demise.


Has anyone else been to this or curious to go? If so what did you think, what are your thoughts about what you experienced?

went to it when they came through down here in tampa

i thought it was cool but i was always into that science geeky stuff

they looked pretty real to me but who knows nowadays

[Dr.Cory]

Those dissections are incredible and very clean....I love going down to see it. Trust me...cut someone up most of the time it is not usually so clean and clear; a lot more greasy too

[Jennitalia]

love the exhibit. we had a choice to go the bodies exhibit and check out the systems there, or go to the podiatry school and have a freak show us these old rotted bodies and body parts that had been laying there for years. i'll never get the image of dead 89 year old shriveled up, hairless vajayjay out of my head.
Love the Bodies.

[Dr.Cory]

Yeah I agree; the feet are the worst part on a preserved body...that and the deflated eyes...

[Alice S. Fuzzybutt]

No words can convey how much I want to see this.

[TooLowBrow]

i think its interesting that even though they remove almost all of the skin, they still have to leave a bit by the asshole and belly button.
i guess those 2 areas are un-skinable