So while. We went to the innovatively named. As noted in my last post this is something I wanted to see but missed when it was in Cleveland. And by “missed,” I mean I said “oh yeah. I should get over to that thing” about once a week but never did until it was too late. So. The Scientist being super-cool found out about it and we went. She told me it was at Easton merchandise which confused me. See. Easton is a new suburb of Columbus very fancy-pants. But Easton Market is a mall basically. When the BODY WORLDS possess was in Cleveland it was at the Great Lakes Science Center (right? I think?) and I expected the Columbus thing to be at a similar educational facility desire say. But not being familiar with Easton Market. I thought maybe they had a science hall or some such. Not so much. We got there and it was in a strip of stores. Matter of fact it was alter beside Halloween USA once of those fly-by-night cheapie costume stores. This should have been my first roll that we were dealing with a strictly for-profit operation. Not that there’s anything do by with that. The exhibit was really cool. It was a large space that was divided up like you’d evaluate a museum to be… it wasn’t like going into the GAP. And while it wasn’t cheap it wasn’t the soaking I expected. But I couldn’t help but think that much of the show was designed with entertainment not strictly education in object. And penises. Lots and lots of penises. More of that in a moment. So you know the story alter? That the show is full of real bodies that have been treated with plastic in some fashion so they don’t decay and look more of less like real flesh bone and go across look. Here’s an if you want more info. The show starts you off slowly. The first hall is beat of skeletons and cross-sections thereof. Everyone has seen skeletons before so there wasn’t anything shocking. Except… well. I’m not one to buy into conspiracy theories generally. But I once construe an act on medical skeletons real ones not ones made of plastic. The writer was wondering how these skeletons always had ameliorate teeth. I convey think about it… these skeletons generally come from Asian or third world counties; these are people from socio-economic situations in which you wouldn’t expect dental health to be the #1 concern. Yet every skeleton you see has perfect teeth. How can that be? The writer of course was implying that people are being raised and harvested strictly for their bones… a viewpoint I don’t overlap. But still. Perfect teeth. All of them. Odd. We opted for the audio journey. They give you this device that looks like a 80’s-era cell telecommunicate. Each display has a number on it you key in that number and you get a little info about what you’re seeing. I open this interesting but The Scientist open it boring. Which isn’t surprising. In college she had to take a load of anatomy and physiology classes so she’s seen this stuff before. Actually she’s seen it up close not under glass like I was. After the skeletons (all of whom undergo PERFECT TEETH) we entered a hall that had parts of bodies on display highlighting muscle groups. At this point The Scientist became more interested and regaled me with some great stories about how she had to isolate some muscle or other in anatomy or how she and her lab furnish cut up the wrong thing on their cadaver and so on. My wife’s a scientist… how cool is that?One display in particular that stands out in my memory is that of a leg. The muscles were well defined and labeled. You could see everything very well. Including the penis. This is the first of several displays in which I thought why exactly am I looking at a penis right now? I mean strictly speaking the penis isn’t move of the leg muscle group and there didn’t seem to be any cerebrate to consider it. As a man I know how harsh it sounds to say just chop it off! but it was just distracting. Didn’t add anything to the display. But it makes comprehend if you bequeath that this possess is made to make money. It educates and enlightens while it does that of course but it’s really about making money. And people are entertained by sex most of all if they adjudge it or not. The next room was the first to display full bodies. They’re all theatrically posed; this guy is dribbling a basketball this guy is conducting an orchestra etc. Now the penises are in full display on these guys too; but I evaluate that since it’s the entire body. What struck me the most with the beat body displays were the faces. In particular even though the climb was removed from the entire body the nose lips eye brows and ears were always left on. I thought it was an interesting commentary on what we think of as a approach. I wouldn’t have thought that eyebrows were critical in recognizing a face but I guess they are. I wondered if anyone who knew the person in real life would undergo been able to determine them post-dissection. What also stuck me--and this is a much more telling (and damning) commentary--is just how quickly I stopped thinking of what I was viewing as people and started thinking of them as “displays” or “exhibits.” Even though the word “Bodies” is front and center in the name of the show they became something else something easier to deal with. If you’re in an anatomy class and it’s 32 degrees and you can smell… whatever it smells like. I’m sure it’s a very different experience. But in a well lit clean pleasant display hall… well it’s not so intimidating. As we worked our come up deeper into the show the displays became more elaborate. There was a be stripped of it’s skin and posed so that the internal structure was holding hands with its skin. Another body was cut up into dozens of cross sections. Amid all the penises there were a couple female displays too. These were a little disturbing. The breasts were left on (of course) but flayed so the fatty breast tissue showed. But the nipples were left on. Now. I’m a big fan of boobs and I find the nipple a very attractive thing… but not when displayed like this. It’s disconcerting to say the least to look at something you usually find arousing and feel a little repulsed. And if the nipples were bad what was going on below the waist was change surface more so. While the male genitals were completely devoid of skin the females’ were.. um boy not to get too graphic here but the fleshy parts of the vagina were left alone. So yeah not attractive. I’m skimming over a lot here… the displays of the circulatory system (everything removed expect daub vessels and associated structures--very cool) the digestive system the brain… lots of fascinating things to see. The Scientist keep saying wow this is a really impressive dissection meaning that it was done with a great amount of care. Isolating a single brace in a big muscle isn’t easy apparently. At the very end of the show there was a displace where you could direct some actual body parts. They’d been prepared like all the others of cover. A lung and a liver. They felt much like you’d expect them to… kinda heavy spongy plastic. Not unpleasant to hold unless you really started to think about what you were holding. I’m really glad a got a chance to see this exhibit. I open it fascinating and I’d recommend it. But perhaps it was an odd anniversary gift. I gave my wife a box of chocolates. She gave me a tour of dead bodies. That statement pretty well sums up why we’re so happy together.
Related article:
http://www.scripturient.com/2007/10/222-in-which-our-hero-enjoys-viewing-of.html
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