I went to an exhibition of dead bodies at the weekend….It was called Body Works and was in Manchester.
The dead bodies were a bit disappointing they had undergone Plastination(*) which was very impressive technically but ment that they didn’t look real- they looked plastic.I obviously wasn’t expecting rotting flesh and maggots but I expected them to look slightly more fleshy. I’ve seen a dead body once before- it was on a fun run, I somehow got lost and a drowned man was pulled out of the river- he was all bloated and weird…. The lack of rotting flesh aside the exhibition was fascinating…I realised I have very little idea about anatomy and it was really interesting to see how the bodies all fitted together. It was also interesting to see what happened when people had a stroke etc. There was so much information that I couldn’t take it all in and have bought the book to read at home.
The positioning of the bodies was also interesting- it was more than a museum exhibition; more like art with the bodies placed in positions of people who are doing things (playing tennis, swimming etc). Some were placed to be reminiscent of artistic works (for example one was dissecting another) . It was quite stunning and grotesquely fascinating.
As well as the information about bodies there was a second stream of information; about previous attitudes to death and bodies so there was pictures of body theatre’s (dissection theatre’s) and a discussion of the symbolism around those. The exhibition was very popular so it wasn’t really possible to go out and back in which was a shame as I wanted to take it all in.
A subsection of the exhibition looked at human development- which was basically fetuses. I was amazed by how quickly a collection of cells turns into a human shape. I was also amazed by how damn predictable people were…I saw several approach the 24 week one and say..oh this is the legal limit for abortion….and seem shocked. the basic argument seems to be…but it looks so cute- it must be wrong. It did look like a baby but a have a feeling there is more to the argument than cuteness.
The exhibition was in Manchester, my dad really wanted to see it as he has just done an MA in death studies and is thinking of becoming a grief councillor. He lives in Bath and we went up to my mums house in Manchester to see it. Its really weird having both of them together. They get on so well its like two old friends with soo much to catch up on. I tend to feel like I’m disappearing…
(*)Plastination is the process of extracting all bodily fluids and soluble fat from specimens and replacing them with vacuum forced impregnation with reactive resins and elastometers, such as rubber, silicon and epoxy. The specimen is then cured with light, heat or certain gases, which give it rigidity and permanence.
