Bodies… an Owner’s Experience
We are in Seattle this weekend, and this morning went to the Bodies… The Exhibition here. It was quite amazing. I had seen billboards for it in New York, right before it opened there, and remember the cautionary and ethical concerns around it. So it was a treat to be able to finally see it.
After all, they were showing real human bodies, exposed to the nerves.
Carefully preserved in polymer, the bodies are largely from a medical school in China, although many of the organ specimens have been collected from here in the US as well.
I think the most impressive part of the exhibit, to me, were acutally the exposed nerves. Laid out perfectly on white, they looked absolutely frantic. Sincerely, they looked like they were buzzing right there on the table. The phrase frayed nerves couldn’t be more apropos.
We both noted we were surprised that nothing in the exhibit grossed either of us out. (I can’t watch surgery or anything bloody on TV without shutting my eyes.) I guess we were clinical in our approach - viewing it as an intricate study of what’s going on inside - just underneath the skin.
There were several cases of cancerous organs, blackened and tuberculous lungs, and the tiniest of organs (your appendix is smaller than your little finger) and glands (the pituitary was the size of a hazelnut). The cautionary tales on signage paled in comparison to viewing the actual results of disease and intentional distruction. I mean, who would smoke, knowing each pack takes 2.5 hours of your life away?
We spent two and a half hours taking it in. And it was well worth the time and energy to see it all. I can’t believe we’ve lived so long without seeing the inner workings of our physical bodies. It’s actually more fantastic than I’d ever be able to imagine.
We were up there a couple weeks ago and were thinking of going but chickened out. $30 is scary.
$30 to know your insides? Cheap insurance, dude. You’re young, though… maybe you’ll feel differently when you’re my age!