Saturday, November 18, 2006

Body Worlds


Time to get back to my blog … otherwise I will miss a lot of interesting things that happens.

Today I went to see the famous Gunther von Hagens very famous “Body Worlds” exhibition at the Science World in Vancouver.

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Gunther von Hagens, a political dissident in east Germany (he was imprisoned and released after a $20,000 payment by the West German government) discovered in the early ‘80s Plastination: a technique that “makes it possible to preserve individual tissues and organs that have been removed from the body” (http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/plastination/plastination_process.html)

This allows him to use real bodies as educational tools to showcase and to intuitively understand the complex mechanism that is our bodies. The result is breathtaking. The exhibition has hundreds of items from real bodies showcasing various muscle groups or nervous system to plasticized organs. There is a wide range of messages being delivered to the view. The first one is purely educational. He uses the technique as a very powerful visual tool of the most hidden places in our body. The meticulosity of the models is amazing. There is also a strong message of self-awareness. On the one hand it is intimidating to see the immense complexity of our bodies; it makes you want to take better care of this very nice piece of machinery. On the other hand, it provides very graphic images of; let’s say a lung of a smoker or a liver of a drinker which will make even the most avid smoker and drinker to think twice before the next cigarette or bottle of beer. It also shows visually effects of fat and diet, although not nearly enough, especially for a north American audience.

Last but not least, this is indirectly the ultimate artistic expression of God’s creation. The color, the texture, the poses, the millions of pieces of tissue, bone and muscles that come together to make us what we are, is beautiful and very powerful on many levels.

To wrap up, I give very enthusiastic thumbs up. I spent 2.5 hours and I will probably go to see it again until it leaves Vancouver in January.

2 comments:

MB said...

Oh My God, vrei sa spui ca ce are ala intre picioare e o real plasticized putza????

Macar sa fi pus si el una mai ...falnica sa vina multe vizitatoare care duc lipsa :-)

Ah ce porc sint, sa nu ma spui...

asa sint eu, de aia Andreea ma uraste. Nu suporta ca are un tata glumetz si grasutz....:-) groh..groh...nu sint frumos dar sforai puternic. :-)

Miropi said...

Tibilone, acum expozitia asta e in Amsterdam si m-am dus s-o vad de curand. Am stat acolo vreo 5 ore si cand am iesit m-am dus sa mananc ceva si mi-am continuat viata ca orice om normal. Doar mai tarziu m-a pocnit realitatea celor ce am vazut. Aia sunt oameni morti si neingropati. Daca ar fi fost nu corpuri anonime, ci cineva pe care as fi putut sa-l (s-o) cunosc, sau si mai grav, cineva la care am tinut, as mai fi tolerat cu atata usurinta ce le-a facut asta corpurilor lor??????? NU-mi vine sa cred ca am stat atata in expozitia aia si m-am uitat cu atata interes la toate detaliile (m-a fascinat, recunosc) fara sa ma gandesc la probleme de etica.

Vis-a-vis de comentariul deja existent, si pe mine m-a frapat ce mici si amarate si triste si insignifiante erau putzele alea din expozitie. Expozitia asta te face sa te simti foarte umil, ca om facut din carne si oase.

Inca ceva: m-a frapat asemanarea cu animalele pe care le mancam. Expozitia asta e plina de carne, de fripturi, de cotlete, de copane si sunci si sorici si maduve si zgarci si organe pe care le-am vazut inainte doar in farfurie. Ce canibala primitiva sunt.