Monday, October 13, 2008

body worlds

friday i attended the bodyworlds 3 show at the leonardo. oh my. it is a trip. a long hot trip - luckily they brought in some fans. i was in the blood room - having just read about how bad smoking is for the lungs and i thought i was ready to pass out. i'd only been there an hour but my brain was already full of stuff and the crowds were getting to me. i just wanted water. trouble was, i knew if i rushed through it i'd regret it since it cost 20 bucks to go and there's no turning around. but you know what they say about marathons - how it gets easier about half way through (someone must say that) - well, this was similar. i thought i was going to die, but then eventually, finally, it got easier and i kept going. i finally found some water, and i finally found a place to sit, but i managed to last anouther hour and a half and still read every possible sign i could find. it's worth it. you should go. it wasn't gross necessarily, it was just really interesting. science meets art sort of thing. i did get a bit sad in spots when things would remind me of dad. funny how i still find myself having sad flashes. i guess that's inevitable. but anyway, go - you might learn something!
sorry no photos - they were pretty insistent.

5 comments:

bug girl said...

Sorry, but I know no one who says that a marathon gets easier half-way through.

I loved the Body Worlds exhibit I saw in D.C. I am glad you made it, even if it was hotter than hades in there.

littlemikemack said...

I haven't been to a Body Worlds exhibit...I'm one the fence about seeing it. Nothing against the presentation, but I too may become slightly depressed/sad.

I imagine looking at a piece and thinking about the person...what were their dying thoughts ? did they even have dying thoughts ? had they been unconscious in their final stages ? was family around when they passed ?...were they a brother/sister/mother/father/
grandfather ?

I respect it, admire it, but I don't want to view it. I'm no longer on the fence obviously.

plainoldsarah said...

thanks kim - i guess i've just heard people say that eventually you hit a rhythm, which is obviously different from getting easier - i guess to me every step of a marathon would be impossible! you're one of the few i can say that i know personally that has ever run one.

mike - glad you could figure out your stand. but mostly i just saw the art behind it all, but it's hard to stop the thoughts from flowing once they begin.

Marie said...

I think I want to see it. One of the Body Worlds exhibits was hit with that scandal a few years back (apparently the bodies in the exhibit were John Does from China whom no one ever claimed or identified), and if that's the case with this exhibit (i.e. if the bodies weren't donated by the people who used to live inside the bodies or by their families), then I'm not sure I could handle the exhibit. Did they disclose how they obtained the bodies?

plainoldsarah said...

they actually had a whole display explaining the donation process, and in a way they encouraged you to donate yours.