The Cadavers of BODY WORLDS Come to London

In 1977, Gunther von Hagens invented plastination, a way of preserving human and animal bodies by stripping away skin and injecting muscle with resin. This method, which has since been improved and refined, has applications in teaching, research, and, it seems, tourism.

At Body Worlds, which opens in London this weekend, and already has locations throughout Europe and America, several human plastinates are on display, along with a few hundred-odd organs, bones, and slices of tissue. Most of the items are accompanied by educational texts explaining the function of the human body, and some also have helpful videos and animations.

There is a kind of macabre fun in Body Worlds. Some of the plastinates are posed majestically; others demonstrate the strength and dynamism of the human body. Still others seem like they're just having a lark. Walking through the dark and winding corridors of the exhibit is a bit like visiting the lab of Edgar Allan Poe.

But for all the fun one could have at Body Worlds, there is an awful lot of homework. On every floor, at each display, I read about the nervous system, the cardiovascular system, the renal system. Much of the exhibition is devoted to healthy living. As I stand in front of a corpse whose blood and fat were long ago dissolved in acetone, my audio guide chirps about the dangers of stress.

Next to a giant photo of a baby (there are no child plastinates), a placard reads: "A child's basic needs are very demanding. This crowds out other sources of pleasure in the parents' lives with the child becoming a major source of happy moments." True, maybe, but I could be riding the London Eye.

Someone who would choose Body Worlds over other attractions is Claire, a Londoner, who's drawn by "the authenticity," she explains - noting that the exhibition is housed in 1 Piccadilly Circus, the former home of Ripley's Believe it or Not!. "This is real, and quite unusual."

Body Worlds is real, and it is unusual. But it is also slow-moving and a bit evocative of school. Whilst physiology is an interesting topic, and worth exploring in a course or thorough reading, there is so much more in London to explore, examine, and enjoy.

Photo credit: Jeff Moore

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