Art, Science, or Psychological Pathology?

Remember my musings on body disposal a while back? One option on the table was Body Worlds. Sunday was the last day it was open at the Franklin Institute, so my pal NattieV and I headed down to Philadelphia to check it out.

What to say? As a whole, it was pretty overwhelming. The science geek in me certainly appreciated the preservation and display techniques and the leaps forward in teaching anatomy that have certainly occurred due to plastination. The aesthetic in me found the whole body displays a little gratuitous but thought the exhibits in which only the capillaries were preserved exquisite. The twelve-year-old in me giggled at all of the preserved penises. The wanna-be health nut in me was struck by how many donors were smokers, as evidenced by their black lungs. The macabre in me was just fascinated by the, well, macabre nature of the whole damn thing, and the vomiter in me almost passed out a little.

There was a little portion of the exhibit that consisted of a blown-up donor card, but this weekend didn't change anything in my mind.

I still maintain my original position – take the best and burn the rest. And play the Pixies' 'Monkey Gone to Heaven,' please.