Leave your body to Art

Tell people you are leaving your body to science and it’s something we’re all pretty familiar with but tell them you’re leaving it for a public museum exhibition and you might get a few raised eyebrows. That is exactly what over 14,000 people have done to create the Body Worlds Exhibitions.

Controversial anatomist Gunther von Hagens is the inventor of the ground-breaking process of plastination and uses real human donors to create exhibitions. Body World exhibits have faced criticism from many quarters claiming that they are unethical, tasteless and disrespectful to the dead. His work has been the subject of many debates and papers about the ethics of displaying, what are effectively, dead people. His subjects are corpses, cadavers, remains, carcasses – whatever name you choose to give them that is the reality, so it’s no surprise that there is opposition to the concept. It’s also important to know that all donors gave written permission and all 8 exhibitions include an example copy of that document. Hailed as a genius and innovator by some and described as a modern day Frankenstein by others, opinion will always be divided on such an emotive subject.

I had, of course, heard of the exhibits, a friend of mine had seen it in London and raved about it, but when the editor said get your coat on we’re off to Newcastle to see it – I felt apprehensive. I honestly didn’t know what to expect or how I would react. My only other experience of seeing a dead human body was in a chapel of rest and now I would be looking at them in a bustling museum full of children! On the way into the exhibit a couple of young girls, about 6 and 8 years old, went in before us and I have to say I felt some relief that it couldn’t be that terrifying! I entered with the idea that it would be like a freak show that would shock and disturb me. It isn’t and it didn’t. That’s not to say that I didn’t initially feel a slight revulsion as I gazed into a eyeball staring out of a partial skull with protruding brain. The point is that it’s supposed to be challenging and at times unsettling.

There is, however, a definite sense of celebration of the human body and it’s done in such an unusual way that you can’t help engaging. The transparent, full length body ‘slices’ are incredible – each organ and body part captured in a way we could never have seen before. The body is so rarely seen in such detail that medical professionals are taking their students in and using the exhibit as a teaching resource! The vivid red display of blood vessels in a human head is visually stunning and could sit just as easily in an art gallery as a science museum.

Dr. Angelina Whalley( pdf info ), Curator and Designer of the BODY WORLDS exhibitions and head of the Institute for Plastination, said:  “I hope for visitors to Vital to be inspired by the body’s potential and capacity of change.”

I did have to remind myself, I heard other visitors doing the same, that these were real human bodies and body parts. Apart from the fact that some were just so beautiful to look at, the process of plastination leaves a sheen on the exhibits which gives a slightly artificial appearance similar to a plastic model. I couldn’t help but marvel at the amount of painstaking work that must have gone into separating and arranging each nerve in a human torso. From tiny bones to whole, skinless, athletic bodies seen in action ‘poses’ the message is clear that the human body is an amazing machine.

What really struck me is how the installations are used, not to shock or focus on death as I’d expected, but to promote healthy lifestyle choices and wellbeing. There are loads of interesting facts and statistics about the human body posted around the room. The comparison of a healthy organ next to a diseased organ shows, in inescapable detail, the effect on our bodies from smoking, drinking and exercising too little. Having said that it never feels like a lecture, just informative. We already know these things are damaging but to see the effects on real organs is strangely moving. If those two young girls in front of me never have a cigarette because of what they have seen then isn’t that a great thing? Could a visit to the exhibit achieve what hours of sitting in a PSHE lesson can’t?

okI should mention there is a section of the exhibit showing a series of foetuses progressing from a tiny ball of cells to a fully grown baby. I found it fascinating but understand that it won’t be to everyone’s taste and some people may be offended – it has certainly faced media criticism. This section is curtained off so it is entirely up to the individual to see it or not. Of course the same applies to the whole exhibition – if you are really offended by the concept then don’t see it. I was sitting on the fence, (i.e. being a bit of a scaredy cat), but am so glad I didn’t miss this unique opportunity to experience it for myself.

fmSo, is Body Worlds Vital art or is it science?

The mission of the exhibit is health education and in this, for me, it certainly succeeds.The bodies donated to Body Worlds have been used in teaching the anatomy of the human body, not to students of medicine and health professionals, but to me and millions of others who have passed through it’s doors. That it’s done in such an aesthetically pleasing way is a happy bonus.

Visit Gunther von Hagens BODY WORLDS VITAL

fmWarning :The movie clip above contains graphic images