Since its first exhibition at Tokyo in 1995, the Body Worlds exhibit has toured museums across the globe with its unique display of preserved human bodies.
The exhibit has since expanded into several separate shows, with the most recent opening, Body Worlds & The Mirror of Time, opening in London Oct. 28, 2008.
Houston has been host to Body Worlds 2 & The Brain: Our Three Pound Gem at the Houston Museum of Natural Science since Sept. 12, 2008. HMNS previously hosted the inaugural exhibit for Body Worlds 3 & The Story of the Heart in February 2006.
‘I thought it was incredible,’ English junior Joelle Lasut-Schweighauser said. ‘They were able to show bodies doing everyday things. It mixed art with science, with just a bit of morbidity.’
Body Worlds is the culmination of the efforts of German anatomist Gunther von Hagens, who in 1977 invented plastination, the technique used to preserve the human body for the exhibits.
‘I invented plastination when I was 32 – half a life ago – so I could teach people about the human body and show them its full potential,’ von Hagens said in a 2008 press release. ‘It seemed a natural progression to use my science to present, in Body Worlds, the secrets of vitality, longevity, and well-being.’
The plastination process involves several steps. First, the body must be embalmed in formaldehyde and then soaked in acetone, which replaces any residual water in the body.’ The body is then set in a bath of liquid polymer where a vacuum draws out the acetone, allowing the polymer to take its place. After curing the bodies, now referred to as plastinates, they are ready to be modeled and displayed.
Many different forms of plastinates are on display at Body Worlds 2, ranging from individual organs to full bodies set into distinct poses.
‘I really want to see it for myself,’ psychology and sociology major Danica Dirba said.
Dirba missed the first exhibit in 2006 and plans to go to this one before it’s over.
‘It’d be really interesting just to look, because I don’t know much about anatomy,’ she said.
This will be the last week Body Worlds 2 will be in Houston. To encourage more viewers for the exhibit, HMNS is going to remain open this entire weekend, opening 9 a.m. Friday and closing 9 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $25 for adults and $21 for college students with a valid school ID. For more information about HMNS exhibits and times, visit www.hmns.com.
