Body Worlds 2

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The title makes it sound as though you are about to view some B-movie about a perverted Dr. Frankenstein who gives life to zombies on other planets, but in actuality it was named by a German scientist who pioneered the process of plastination, which essentially means turning corpses and body parts into something more permanent. So basically, not too far off from my initial impression.

This exhibition at the museum of science in Boston is not something i would have gone to a few years ago. I've never had a strong stomach and I am a sympathetic barfer. I even threw up at the alter during my own wedding! In recent years I've toughened up, to the point where I can clean up after the dog, bandage a wound, and scare away wild animals (well, at least the odd moth or two). And so I thought I was ready for Body Worlds.

At first, it was all very surreal. The musculature of the preserved bodies looked kind of like beef jerky, and the skeletons were nothing I hadn't seen before in drawing class. For some reason the cross section of the knee started mine a' shaking, and the disembodied nerves, looking like unraveled ropes, really freaked me out.The lungs- even those of the Chinese coal miner, were fascinating and my favorite display was about the circulatory system, showing beautiful and horrifying networks of crimson veins that somehow retained the exact shape of the lamb, or the arm or the head, that they came from. It was kind of like Damien Hurst's most fabulous dreams come to life.

I do believe the creator is trying to pass this off as art, for I can see no other explanation for the demented poses. What's up with the figure skaters? Or the naked guy on skis? Or the drawer man, carved up like an bureau, with the heart in the top drawer, liver in the bottom? Is this some kind of a sick joke? Or is this some attempt to interest the average citizen in the science of the body? I suppose in general, plastination offers an interesting teaching aid, for students and the bio-curious alike. On a sunny Saturday afternoon, many a medical student was explaining the way things work to his or her date - not my idea of a romantic time exactly but whatever.

Just when your stomach begins to do backflips and you make a break for the exit you have the unique opportunity to donate your own body to the science of plastination! You don't get to choose what pose you would like to be immortalized in though, so you could end up as a nude mountain climber. You might think I'm giving away a lot of the surprises, but no photo or description will prepare you for what's ahead. Plus, a photo would not even begin to describe this cave of wonders, or be able to capture the peculiar lingering smell.

Body Worlds 2
Until January 7th at the Boston Museum of Science.
(The Exhibition will move next to Vancouver)

Science Park, Boston
T: Park Street (red line); Government Center (blue line);
Haymarket or North Station (orange line)
www.mos.org/bodyworlds