A whole new world (Body Worlds)

Member Name: rawwrjem

Product:	Body Worlds
Date:	20/06/09 (141 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: amazing and fascinating

Disadvantages: some people are offended by it

My daughter was studying anatomy in art and has a lot of interest in the human body so when her art teacher told her about Gunther Von Hagen's body world display, she really wanted to go.

Gunther Von Hagen is a polish anatomist who invented plastination to preserve and observe dead bodies of humans and animals. He is now 64 and despite having lots of brushes with the law and being accused of taking bodies without persmission and family confirmation, he is very succesful and knowledgable about anatomy. Plastination is the preservation of bodies. The fat and water in the body is replaced by certain plastics that stop the body from smelling or decaying.

Body worlds is an exhibition of anatomy. Gunther Von hagens has disected and plastinated lots of human bodies to show the public exactly what our bodies are underneath. I think it is truly outstanding. When I went to the body world display in London, the 02 arena, I was shocked to be stoof next to a dead body, but at the same time, I was completely fascinated. It was amazing. There were one or two pieces that I found disturbing, one of them being a pregnant woman who was really far into her pregnancy. Hagens had disected her and opened the stomach so you could see the baby inside. It was amazing to see, but I found it upsetting. I also felt disturbed when I saw a couple of childrens bodies, and the embro's but other than that, I found it completely fascinating and amazing.

In the gallery of bodies, there's lots of different types of displays, it's not all just bodies. There's some containers and in each one there is an embryo and in each container, there is a bigger embryo from later in the pregnancy until there is a full size baby. There is also a cabinet that is lit up with very thin slices of brain where you can see the the muscles and veins in the brain. There are full size people that have been disected so they're just bones, nervous system or muscles. One of my favourites was the man who has been skinned and he is holing his skin. Some of the positions that he puts the bodies in is really interesting, one of them is sat at a desk, leaning on his hands and playing chess. Gunther moved his face to make a look of concentration which is amazing. In some fo the cabinets there are healthy organs with an unhealthy organ next to it so you can see the difference which is really interesting. The most amazing thing I saw there was a full size adult giraffe that had been skinned and plastinated. That was outstanding and must have taken so long.

In the gallery, you're asked not to take pictures or touch any of the specimins which is understandable because at the end of the day, I think it is important to have some respect as these aren't pieces of art, these are dead bodies. Despite this, I felt a little disapointed not to be able to have pictures to look back at.

Despite being amazing, this is a very controversial subject on wether he is taking it too far. Is this really art? When he did a live autopsy on channel 4, there were over 130 complaints which shows that some people don't agree with it clearly. But I thought if you don't agree with it, then don't watch it. I can see how some people think that he is going against nature by stopping the bodies from decaying like they should, but at the same time, he is educating and showing us what our bodies are like. It is so fascinating. It only cost about £6 to get in although the travelling was expensive to get to London. In my opinion, I think what he did was OK. Making a gallery of bodies is educating and fascinating thousands of people young and old. He hasn't just put the bodies there to look at, there is lots of readable and audible information so you are learning. In my opinion, I agree with it but can completely understand why people don't.

Overall, I really really enjoyed going there. It was so interesting, I would definintely go again, it was worth triple what I paid. I wanted to meet Gunther Von Hagens but he wasn't there unfortunately aha. I thought that the displays were fascinating and amazing and I think that gunther Von Hagens is amazing, so dedicated to his work. Overall, I'd rate this 100/100!

Summary: An amazing experience not to be missed.