An Unbalanced Mind

[x_h00ine]

ETA: Entry unlocked in the unlikely event that non-LJ folks might be interested in reading my impressions of the exhibit.

Having bid a fond farewell to drbunnyface and capeman this afternoon, I collapsed for what turned into a relatively long nap. It's been a lovely, sleep-deprived, overindulgent weekend and I will be shamed to give my wellness update for the week

Comments

[keswindhover]

I saw this exhibition in London. I admit the pregnant woman and the foetuses made me uncomfortable, and the posed tableaus like the chess players made me feel in some way as though Hagen was 'playing' with corpses, which feels disrespectful, in a way that dissection and plastination itself doesn't. I'm not saying that's logical, but it struck me that way.

But the most of the exhibits I think increased my feeling that human beings are something wonderful, rather than reduced us to lumps of meat. I love your description of a 'gallery of awe' - that's exactly what I felt walking around. The sheer mind blowing complexity of what goes on under our skins is utterly amazing, and beautiful.

[x_h00ine]

I saw this exhibition in London. I admit the pregnant woman and the foetuses made me uncomfortable, and the posed tableaus like the chess players made me feel in some way as though Hagen was 'playing' with corpses, which feels disrespectful, in a way that dissection and plastination itself doesn't. I'm not saying that's logical, but it struck me that way.I can absolutely understand the exhibit being unnerving, and of course visceral responses don't have to be logical. Although I think the fact that it caused you to think about your own "lines" between respectful and disrespectful treatment and justified and unjustified uses of human remains argues for the fact that he's achieved somethign complex. The fact of the matter is, your reaction is introspective and the result of actually taking in the exhibit. So many of the reactions I've seen show no thought at all, taking the attitude that von Hagen and the exhibit aren't worthy at all of consideration, because he is "just" trying to do a, b, or c. They tend to have a serious book-burning

[marcee12]

Kes - Had you ever seen anything like it before? Dissection, etc? It sounds terribly interesting to me and my brain would love to see it, but I'm certain my stomach would object. I know Chrispee was trained in this kind of stuff, but as far as I know - you weren't. Was it scary/shocking/disgusting to you?

[keswindhover]

No, I didn't find it disgusting, and it didn't upset my stomach.

I think the figures who are recognisable people, with intact faces, or tattoos on their arm or whatever, are disturbing on one level.

And the pregnant woman worried me because I felt concern about her as an individual - what disease did she have that she knew would kill her in mid-pregnancy? (Thus enabling her to give her consent.) And given that she knew she was dying, and her child with her - why was she willing for her unborn child to be plastinated in her womb and displayed to the world?

I would still say see the exhibition if you have a chance - it will really make you think about what's under your skin, and how utterly amazing it is.

[chi_editrix]

I was dimly aware of this exhibit (sitting as I am less than one mile away) but knew nothing of the controversy. Now I'm keen to see it.

The MSI has for decades featured cross-sections of human cadavers in glass (in the stairwell) and as far as I know no one had anything to say about it. In the 1970s when I was pregnant I used to love to go look at the "pickled babies" -- real fetuses preserved in glass jars which had been there at least since the 1940s and perhaps longer. Then one day there were all sorts of warning signs around them and the next day they were gone. Some might say this means people are more sensitive to the ethical issues about respecting human remains. I just don't feel this way and it's hard for me to understand why people do.

[x_h00ine]

Yup, the "body slices" and the babies (which are back, by the way), were always things I was fascinated by as a kid (not, I think, in a morbid way, either, I was just thrilled to have a sense of how I fit together).

It's a strange "I don't know what art or science is, but I know what it isn't, because I refuse to look at it." A substantial chunk of the exhibit is simply a new, better way of doing those kinds of cross-sections (we used traditional sections to teach and learn, and it's hard to convey the improvement in clarity and detail of the plastinated sections) and isolated organs or joints. People don't seem to respond negatively to that, it's the full-body specimens that preserve the individuality that seem to just drive people crazy. One thing that struck me as odd was that the only artificial parts of the specimens are the eyeballs (which preserve very poorly by any means), and rather than leaving them out entirely, they bothered to put in fakes.

[warinner]

Dunno if the body-that-went-through-the-bread-slicer is back in the stairwell but it was damned odd experience as a kid to be trotting past it, not paying it particular attention and then realizing what it was. I was scarred for life.

[mr_booze]

The preserved fetusses are back, btw

[rednekkid]

Please take me to see.

[bsdinobaby]

You'd seriously enjoy it, I think.

[rednekkid]

Yeah, I know. But reading x_fuckingincomprehensibleloginname00this's review makes me seriously thing I'd seriously enjoy it that much more with her.

[rednekkid]

Uh, "think" not "thing". And boy does that post abound with the [jrh].

[chicagowench]

You really. REALLY. Don't want to get me started.

I mean, at all.

[x_h00ine]

Oh, but I do!

[chicagowench]

Buckle the fuck up

[x_h00ine]

To put it mildly: Gunter von Hagens may be a genius, but he's also a really disturbing man. He's also money obsessed.Hmmm . . . of course I have no sense of the business end of the whole thing, but I have to say that he acquitted himself well in the transcript of the BBC online chat that I read (which, I think, dates to when the exhibit was in London). Of course all the questions started from the position of "Given that you're a godless, unbalanced lunatic who will be tortured in the deepest pit of hell . . . " and his replies were pretty even-handed, addressing the substance of the questions (if there was any to be had) and ignoring the personal slights. That said, it's not hard to believe that he's someone one would instinctively cross the street to avoid

[jonesiexxx]

Woo and Hoo! The exhibit comes here September 30. Right in time for the Book of Life to open on Rosh Hashanah. (Speaking of cultural rituals and attitudes to life and death).

Thank you for posting this. I don't know that it would have occured to me to go if I hadn't read this. Now I can't imagine not going.

[x_h00ine]

Yes! I was really happy to see that it's going to Toronto. You will love it!

[bsdinobaby]

BTW, the Buffalo Contingent informs me that the one in Toronto is called "Body Worlds 2". It may/may not have different displays, but I can check with my clued wife and find out.