Body Worlds Exhibit--Art or Horror?

Matt and Leticia Bryner came up to Salt Lake City for Matt's Dental seminar and they stayed with us for the weekend. It was fun to have company and to, of course, play games (as Bryners often do :). We also had the chance to go out Friday night to the Body Worlds Exhibit at the Leonardo Museum in Downtown SLC. This exhibit displays the anatomy of the human body, piece by piece. They had statues which are, in fact, cadavers that have been plasticized.

A lot of the exhibit was fascinating, like the fact that our heart pumps 1800 gallons of blood through out our body per day! We saw regular working lungs, then lungs with emphysema and other diseases. They also had other organs like the heart on display. They showed the first artificial heart that was made and also the first artificial heart design that worked in 1982. It was actually a very educational exhibit. The thing that got to both Bryan and me were the statues. They were supposed to be educational/artistic, but to me, it was a little bit scary.

We left feeling a little woozy and grossed out. I had to write about it because, for one, it was very unique, and, for two, I think it will haunt my memory for many years to come :). Matt and Leticia enjoyed it a little more just because of their medical background, but I think we all agreed on the fact that it was a bit disturbing. So, is the body literally supposed to be displayed as art or should we just rely on the painters and photographers to do their artistic calling and spare us the nightmares of "Body World"? I think the latter would be best, at least for my sleeping patterns!

(If you are still interested, after this compelling article, in seeing the exhibit you can visit www. bodyworlds.com)