Body-worlds

[Tramspotter]

http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/pages/home.asp :eek:

It's almost done from LA for good and the next version is coming. I heard you have to make an appointment to go.

If you have the time and can stomach it ;) should really check it out I think I will be going this friday.

If anyones interested in making group go of it I'm game to go again (as it will certainly help with my EMT cert)

[Stan4dSteph]

Don't forget to take along some of those spare DL souvenir popcorn buckets "just in case."

[libraryvixen]

I can only hope it comes to San Francisco. I'm not saying that B will enjoy it, but I know I would!

[Nephythys]

I went in November- it's incredible. And while you can't get away from the raw fact that these are real corpses- they are truly fascintaing. (ok the cyclist freaked me out)

I have been watching for it to come to the states for years- don't miss it!

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I'd totally be up for this, but I'm soooo busy at the moment. Plus I'm not sure if this is GD's bag. ;)

[Prudence]

I wish it was coming here. It looks beyond cool. I love looking at how things work -- including people.

[blueerica]

I'm really hoping I can go, but even MY schedule's too booked for this. :(

Friday, I usually work in the afternoon. I'm going to see if I can get someone to cover my shift, perhaps, so I don't have to worry about making it to the bank on time...

Seriously, if you're in the LA area, and are interested at all in going, send me or Tramspotter a PM. I think these things are more fun in big groups... HEHEHE...

[blueerica]

OK I got 2 tickets for the 8:30 PM Friday Bodyworlds IMAX + Museum!! WOOHOO!!

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

I've got the book on my coffee table.

It's one of the best viewing experiences of my life. The horse and rider was my favorite in the show.

I dig anatomy. I just really, really loved the exhibit.

[blueerica]

I am REALLY REALLY looking forward to this.

I was just discussing it with one of my co-workers... Then we started talking about anatomy classes.. Hehe..

[Monorail Man]

A group of students from the Anatomy class, and our techer headed out to Body Worlds, and it's great. Very informative, and has the plastification is just creepy. :)

[innerSpaceman]

OMG, some friends and I were talking about this at Christmastime and it sounded so interesting, we were surely going to go.

Then forgot about it.

Story in Time Magazine this week. L.A. Exhibit ending soon. Must Go.

Then forgot about it.

Erica mentions that she's going tonight. OMG, almost forgot about and it would have been too late. How do I get info? Ah, thread on the LoT. Thanks peeps.

Going tomorrow night, Saturday, at 7:00 pm.



(Um, I sure hope Zapppop isn't queasy about this kinda stuff. I couldn't reach him by cellphone, the final days were almost totally sold out, and - well - I went ahead and got him a ticket.)

[blueerica]

LoT has all the hep happenings, doesn't it?

[Monorail Man]

Well, if your not going now, Body Worlds 2 is coming, on Jan 28. :)

[BarTopDancer]

Hearing about this is also a great diet. ;)

[blueerica]

Oh, and you'll hear lots about it tomorrow!!!

BTW -- For those who want to know, this show was AMAZING!!

[FEJ]

I Agree..I saw it last week. I loved the circulitory system. The duck was cool..

[Tramspotter]

I see dead people.


Oh yeah a couple of duck arterial systems and a disected horse too.

Horses have huge tracheas BTW.

What was tripping me out was the cross sectional resins.

Preshettuo anyone?

[BarTopDancer]

Oh, and you'll hear lots about it tomorrow!!!

Don't make me leave you on the side of the road somewhere in the [shudder] 909!!!!!! I love you to much to put you through the trama of being stuck in that horrible place for longer than necessary. But if you bring it up I may be forced to leave you, though I'm pretty sure that when COPS and Jerry [Springer] show up this afternoon they will be happy to arrange transportation for you out of that horrible horrible place.

[innerSpaceman]

HELP!

Zapppop and I went to see the Body Worlds exhibit last night, and now I am scarred for life!

I can't stop seeing through people to their musculature and circulatory systems. I look right through their deadened eyes to their tiny brains (that, if flattened would cover 1.5 square miles, but which are so freaking small inside our heads that I can't believe they control our bodies). I feel my own self looking out from inside my skull, and I am too conscious of all my internal organs packed together doing their amazing stuff - - and far too conscious of the 1001 things that can (some of which WILL) go wrong with them.

I feel so tightly packed it hurts. Muscle and sinew and nervous systems and circulatory systems and bone and lungs and heart and kidneys and that huge liver, all crammed, packed, intertwined in bundles inside my skin. And how is it that it keeps functioning (until it doesn't)? And how is it that we can move about in these portable bio-factories, and drive cars and dance and make love and type on message boards?

I can't help feeling like a Self-Animated Meat Puppet.

And too many of the the freaking cadavers had eyes that - bloody hell - looked no different than living eyes! Gak, the eyes are no longer the window to the soul for me, but rather my window to look inside your complex, miraculous and absolutely disturbing human body.


Arragggh, I can't make love with my boyfriend this morning. I keep seeing his insides and it's not as attractive as his outsides. I can't even stay in bed awake, because with my eyes closed all I see and feel is the S.A.M.P.

Oh, woe, we are all but S.A.M.P.s (self-animated meat puppets), and there is no escape - - except for the horrible death that inevitably awaits us through one of the dozens of painful and horrific causes that was illustrated for me last evening.



Beautifully artistic and creative and imaginative and mind-expanding and educational displays of fantastically plasticized human cadavers, dissected and presented in a myriad of unbelievably trippy ways. But not for the faint of heart or, in my case, freaked of mind.

[blueerica]

HAHA!

You know, I'm still thinking about my muscles.

The IMAX movie has me pondering my digestive system. GLURP GLURP!

[FEJ]

I understand what your saying iSm, and I do like the term S.A.M.P., but I disagree. (And I am not trying to invalidate your thoughts or feelings, just show mine also)
I thought it was amazing that they could show all of those things. I thought it was facinating to see what a hemmorage looked like in cross section or an actual anurysm. Also the whole exhibit on the embryo to child, especially the mother was really informative. things that pictures and video do not do justice.

For me, The body is just the vessel in this part of the journey......



or not. http://www.fejsez.com/grin.gif



Either way , I am amazed at the wonders of the human body. If I sit and worry about what can co wrong, and nothing does, thats not really living, is it.

I remember an old addage, eat healty, exercise, die anyway...
Might as well enjoy what I can, do what I can, and not worry about whats out of my control.

I get more scared of the "self" part in the S.A.M.P., that is, worry more about others harming me than my own body failing.

I think the body is a wonderful mechanism, inside and out.

[blueerica]

I really enjoyed my visit to Body Worlds. I was particularly interested in the "plastination" procedures. How they do it, is just amazing, IMO. It was nice to see it actually in someone, as opposed to the start plastic models I got in school, or the cat dissected in phys. anatomy.

Doesn't mean I can't trip out, though... ;)

[innerSpaceman]

Either way , I am amazed at the wonders of the human body. If I sit and worry about what can co wrong, and nothing does, thats not really living, is it.
Oh, hehe, don't get me wrong. The exhibit was fascinating above all else, and I certainly don't (and don't intend to) go around worrying about potential illness or fatality.

I was just posting my rather visceral reactions to the knowledge which I already had being exhibited so strikingly. I've studied anatomy and biology quite extensively, but I've never seen dissected human cadavers before. I am certainly left with a palpable sense of my mechanics and inner biosphere, which may last a week or a day or the rest of my life for all I know. But I am now uber-conscious of the "me" housed inside this shell of amazing functionality. A functionality that is somehow even more mysterious to me having seen it laid out so tangibly last night.

I am having renewed ponderings on whether my fervent belief that we are beings of energy inhabiting a body is really the certainty I feel it to be ... or whether we are, in fact, all inside here - - a consciousness produced by this baseball sized brain.

In other words: Which kind of S.A.M.P. are we? The self-animated meat puppet, or the soul-animated meat puppet? It's going to be the stuff of my ruminations for a little while.

[MerryPrankster]

The BW show sounds fascinating to me -- I love all your different opinions on the show too! :cool: I'd really like to see it. But I checked their web site and I see that it will be in Chicago through Sep. '05. Wow, that's seems like such a long time. I wish they would have extended the tour on the west coast. Maybe up to SF and Seattle? I wonder if they will bring it out west again? :confused:

[blueerica]

I bet it'll be going around for a while. It's what all the cool science museums are vying for this season ;)

The thing about this is that something like BW really can only get better with time. As fascination and interest grow, so does our knowledge and applications of said knowledge. And to try and grasp the psychological and philosophical implications of this show.. Just AMAZING!

I'm so glad I went, and I highly recommend this show to anyone.

[FEJ]

....or the soul-animated meat puppet? It's going to be the stuff of my ruminations for a little while.

it is my daily rumination, kind of keeps me in check..

[Nephythys]

Well, if your not going now, Body Worlds 2 is coming, on Jan 28. :)


Bodyworlds 2?

Clarify?

I have been checking these exhibits on line for years- I was so excited to get to go to the first US exhibit. (plus I got to meet many of you!!) So now it goes to Chicago? But what is BW2?

I hope it comes to CO- I would love to take some of my friends and family that did not get to go last November.

[Not Afraid]

We got tickets to go on Friday evening. We're seeing the IMAX too. I hope that was a good choice.

[Nephythys]

We got tickets to go on Friday evening. We're seeing the IMAX too. I hope that was a good choice.

It is. Rose and I really enjoyed the movie- it flows very well into the exhibit.

[MerryPrankster]

Bodyworlds 2?

Clarify?

I have been checking these exhibits on line for years- I was so excited to get to go to the first US exhibit. (plus I got to meet many of you!!) So now it goes to Chicago? But what is BW2?

I hope it comes to CO- I would love to take some of my friends and family that did not get to go last November.


Nephy~ Here's the link:

http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/pages/home.asp

[Nephythys]

Nephy~ Here's the link:

http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/pages/home.asp


Thank you- I'm still a bit lost, this is not the Chicago exhibit is it? I'll have to check for where it will be, and hopefully make it there.

[MerryPrankster]

Thank you- I'm still a bit lost, this is not the Chicago exhibit is it? I'll have to check for where it will be, and hopefully make it there.

The show that you saw in LA -- Body Worlds, is headed to Chicago Feb. 4 through Sep. 5, 2005. The new show, Body Worlds2 starts in LA on Jan. 29 and goes through March 29, 2005.

The Chicago exhibit is at the Museum of Science and Industry, 5700 S. Lake Shore Drive.

[Nephythys]

The show that you saw in LA -- Body Worlds, is headed to Chicago Feb. 4 through Sep. 5, 2005. The new show, Body Worlds2 starts in LA on Jan. 29 and goes through March 29, 2005.

The Chicago exhibit is at the Museum of Science and Industry, 5700 S. Lake Shore Drive.


humm...I might have to make a trip out for that- I have a week off in march that coincides- I'll start looking at the finances for it.

Cool! Another excuse to get out there! :D

(thank you very much for clearing it up for me)

[Mousey Girl]

It looks interesting in the pictures, but not anything I would be able to handle up close.

[€uroMeinke]

Cool we have tix for this weekend, and I guess I can catch it again in Chicago.

[blueerica]

I really had such a good time there. I'm still ruminating through angles of comprehension. There are so many ways to look at it all..

[innerSpaceman]

There are so many ways to look at it all..
Yes, and unfortunately one of the ways is to have a sort of X-Ray vision where I swear I can see through the clothing and the skin of nearly everybody I come across.

It's a bit disconcerting.

[Flubber]

<speechless>

[BarTopDancer]

Why do I keep reading this thread??!?!

[MerryPrankster]

Yes, and unfortunately one of the ways is to have a sort of X-Ray vision where I swear I can see through the clothing and the skin of nearly everybody I come across.

It's a bit disconcerting.

Please let me know how my liver looks the next (and first) time you see me! :D

[Not Afraid]

Really! Who needs X-rays when ISM is your friend!

[blueerica]

Yes, and unfortunately one of the ways is to have a sort of X-Ray vision where I swear I can see through the clothing and the skin of nearly everybody I come across.

It's a bit disconcerting.

That, it is...

[FEJ]

:birdy:
for NA

[€uroMeinke]

So we went tonight, and I have to say my reaction was mixed. Perhaps you could chalk it up to it being the last weekend and the crowds were annoyingly well, crowded.

I have to say there are some fascinating things. The circulatory system was fascinating to see both intellectually as well as aesthetically. I really liked some of the "exploded" views that demonstrated how things fit together. I also liked the examples of "ailments" of the body gone wrong, a sagital section of an alzheimer brain, examples of strokes, tumors, cancer, etc.

But the exhibit itself bothered me in some ways. It seems the exhibits were placed with awkward site-lines, making it difficult to see without crowding around the individual displays. Some of the set dressings seemed bizzar to me. It was like they had all these organs, and stopped at the home depot to pick up a pallet of bricks and some astro-turf.

Some of the show elements, also lacked anything engaging. For example, a display case of various blobby organs. This one's a liver, this one's a spleen - each with a tiny typewritten lable, which really told me nothing about these blobby things inside me.

Then there's this claim to be "science" - and truely there were some awsome displays of anatomy. However, more copy about the plasticizing process, than about what these displays actually demonstrated. Then there was an unfortunate piece of wall copy explaining how the people who donated their bodies to this casue must remain anonymous so as to not distract from the science. I found myself wondering how much richer this would be, if you could say a little about the people, their lifestyle, and the anatomical consequences it might have. I think others felt the same way as in one exhibit, a tatoo was repeatedly pointed out on one of the cadavers.

With all the admonisions about taking photographs, the elaborate poses and disections, I couldn't think otherwise than someone had chosen to use the body as an artisitic media instead of paint or clay. The claims of being science along with the tiny typewritten lables, were just a distraction to what really was an aesthetic display. But I also have to add that seeing the booth in the middle of the exhibit calling for people to donate their bodies to science, left me reacting with a "No Way" I'd rather, use my organs to save a real human life, with a story, a personality, and a lifestyle.

[blueerica]

For me, it was an opportunity to see the human body aside from a purely plastic model. Very few ever get to see the human cadaver, and even then, having something plasticized gives depth to the saggy remains of the dead.

I remember taking anatomy in high school. Often, high school anatomy (I'm not talking simple biology) involved a fetal pig, at best, and I was fortunate to be able to use a cat, as it is closer to our features than most other animals. Aside from that, I got to have mediocre plastic models of the body and organs, that were hard to learn from. The depth of understanding what happens to the body under certain conditions is not common for the commoner. See the enlarged heart, a black lung, a tumor, breakages, and prosthetics. For me, seeing those things gave me understanding toward myself. I checked out the prosthetic knee. With the shape mine is in, I don't doubt I'll have a later model of the ones they displayed there.

Of course, it wasn't probably as crowded when I went.

That can account for a lot.

[innerSpaceman]

Heheh, I hear they're staying open 24 hours a day until the exhibit closes on Sunday - - perhaps you would have had better luck with crowds at 4 am?

I certainly agree that the full cadaver displays were primarily artistic, and only tangentially scientific due the subject matter itself. But the organ display cases seemed purely scientific to me. And although not much was explained about proper function, so much was illustrated about improper function that I felt a definite educational legitimacy.

In fact, I think the whole point of the exhibit, from the educational angle, was that a picture speaks a thousand words.

Sure, the text labels and display copy were inadequate. But I think the point was that what you saw with your own eyes told you so much more, or at least conveyed the information so drastically differently, than words ever could.

I have been an ardent student of anatomy and biology. I am quite familiar with the functioning of the human body. This exhibit gave me additional knowledge on a "grok" level.

And, of course, from the artistic angle, the piece just floored me. I'll agree that the set-ups with brick platforms and poor sightlines were substandard. But the displays themselves were so phenomenally unlike anything ever seen before that I can hardly fault them too much for poor presentation. This is, after all, a traveling exhibit. And I don't know how you could really display all those cadavers with better crowd sightlines while still allowing the audience members to get so up close to them.


A week later, the shock value has begun to fade, my xray vision thankfully doesn't function all the time anymore. I am still conscious of every sight I see traveling along my optic nerve to the brain inside my skull that directs the function of the I-bio-robot that I am. But I have begun to really appreciate the humour of the exhibit...

The black-lunged cadaver holding a lit cigarette. One particular gentleman so flayed that he looked like something from Hellraiser was actually wearing a top hat, and rotating! The way they had several of the cadavers holding what was removed: the skinned man holding his bunched up skin; the body-cavity dude clutching his internal organs in his grasp, the split man riding skinned horse holding his human brain in one hand and the horse's brain in another. And who could forget the circulatory family, mom and dad and happpy child riding triumphantly on mom's shoulders? How comicly morbid to see a family displayed in this pose when all their blood vessels had been injected with red plastic and the entire rest of their bodies chemically melted away to leave only their circulartory systems standing there in the perfect form of three humans.

Frankly, I think the plasticization process was the big scientific news of this exhibit, and I'm glad they went into that a bit more. Biologic misfunction was another focus (which, as I understand, will be even more strongly presented in the sequel exhibit which opens Jan. 29). But as for anatomy and normal biofunctioning - - how much do you need to be told when you can, for the first time, see it with your own eyes?


(Besides, all the explanations of what the heart does or the liver does, or even what enzymes hit what receptors, or even which synapses of the brain fire to tell the proteins to go here or there .... none of that tells you how it happens. We many never know how it happens.)