[€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.