Dead People

Alright, maybe the title is a little dramatic. But the two exhibits we saw were centered on people who are dead. I wanted to see the Body Exhibit when it was in Los Angeles, but it didn’t happen. There is a lot of controversy and speculation about the people and how they died. Some believe the bodies are those of Chinese prisoners. That is refuted and it is said the bodies are unclaimed people. At any rate it was a fascinating exhibit and very educational.

It was to be another long day. We drove over to the Ferry and crossed to New York, then took a bus into the city.

The bodies are plastinized. According to a Live Science article from February 2006, the technique was created by German anatomist Gunther von Hagens. With plastination, an “embalmed body is drained of its natural fluids and injected with a polymer solution. The body is posed and then cured and hardened into position,” Those in favor of plastination see it not only as an opportunity to educate the public, but also as a “technology to be used right alongside the traditional methods of dissection taught in medical classrooms.” More information is available throughout the internet.

When I walked through the door and saw the first body I was taken aback. The first body was posed throwing a football. I was not prepared for this. Then I stopped to think about what I was seeing and realized it was posed to show the muscles in the body.

After seeing the first body and as I proceeded through the exhibit, it became increasingly interesting. There were exhibits of bone structure, muscles, and circulatory systems. They had a human heart with a by-pass valve and a knee that had been replaced and a spine with pins in it.

The exhibit included the brain and a vertical dissection of a body. There were lungs of smokers and lungs with emphysema and cancer. The body looks so fragile when viewed in small segments. It was an amazing experience to think this is how I look on the inside.

I was overwhelmed with information. There was so much that I became a little bored. But then I walked into a room that had a pregnant mother with the baby in the womb, fetuses at all stages of development. It was amazing, educational and I am fortunate to have this opportunity.

The next stop was the King Tut (Tutankhamun) Exhibit. All the years this has been around, and I had never seen it. Another thing I meant to do, but it just never happened.

The exhibit focuses on a 100 year history of the Egyption 18th Dynasty. King Tut ruled between 1341 BC – 1323 BC, A fascinating piece of history, the exhibit was organized in a timeline maze beginning with King Tut’s ancestors and ending in his death.

Discovered by Howard Carter in 1922, it is difficult to imagine what it must have been like to be one of the first people in thousands of years to enter the tomb. There was a film of people taking artifacts out of the tomb and placing them into trucks. As I watched the film, I silently wondered if maybe it would have been better undiscovered. Some things are sacred. A four minute video documents his discovery and excavation.

A few more hours of sightseeing we were off to Newark for Puerto Rican food. Another packed and long day!

I miss things like this. Going to the Getty during my last visit was so relaxing. Living in Saint Lucia has been amazing, but living without museums and amazing exhibits such as these has been difficult.

As I walked through the city I thought of the children. Imagine never being able to see the immense bones of a dinosaur recreated and standing in the middle of a hall. Imagine never being able to see masterpiece paintings or a sculpture of David. Is it a hardship to them? Maybe not.