I went to go see the Bodies … The Exhibition at the Atlanta Civic Center. It costed $20 to get in. And unfortunately they did not allow cameras.
I was originally planning on bringing my kids to see it too and I’m glad I didn’t. The exhibition is probably a bit too much for small kids. And they probably would’ve been bored too since I stopped to read most of the informational signs. It’s probably more appropriate for kids that have started studying human anatomy.
It takes about 1 to 2 hours to walk through the exhibit. They also had an audio tour where you listen to a tape player that you carry around for $5, but I skipped that.
When you go in, there’s a sign saying that the exhibit is not affiliated with Body Worlds or Gunther von Hagens. So, they got the plastination method and did their own exhibits.
At first, it’s a little eerie thinking that the plastinates were actually once living humans. And looking at them, I was thinking, “this is what I am”. After that feeling went away, it’s pretty cool to see what you really look like on the inside.
As I was looking at the bodies, I noticed most of them were male bodies. And I kept wondering why it was that way. (I asked a person working there at the end of the exhibit and she didn’t know either) All the bodies were from China (is there anything now not from China?). Apparantly deceased people who have no relatives are used for scientific research in China.
The exhibit was respectfully done. I think they did a good job of trying to have a high standard of ethics in the presentation. For example, there was also a fetus section. And all of the fetus had died during pregnancy by natural means.
One very interesting section was the circulatory system where only the blood vessels were preserved. It was cool to see the entire body of just blood vessels encased in a block of plastic.
Another interesting part was seeing the differences between diseased and normal organs. The smoker’s lung was pretty dramatic. And seeing a fetus with anencephaly was even more dramatic.
As I was looking at the exhibits and reading about them, I kept thinking how well designed the human body is. And that it’s probably, if not definitely, the most complex physical thing in the universe.
More links:
Plastinated Specimen Visual Gallery