I arrived in Las Vegas yesterday morning, the day before CES, since my brother and his wife are in town for their own conference (ending today). Rather than just wandering around looking at the pretty blinkenlights or, worse yet, putting money into all the slot-machines scattered around the floor, we went to go see the plasticized bodies exhibit at Luxor.
I’ve been wanting to see them for years, so was really glad to have some time to do it, though it took a bit of convincing before my squeamish sister-in-law would come along (she stopped watching House once there was too much blood & guts).
I always thought there was just the single exhibition, but I’ve learned while researching this post that there are at least three different companies that prepare these bodies and exhibit them. The best one seems to be Body Worlds, which was started by Gunther von Hagens, and is managed through a body donation program where people offer their bodies to be part of the exhibit. For me, this is totally acceptable. If someone wants to offer their body for education, that is their complete right, and we should be thankful for their generosity. The one at the Luxor, Bodies the Exhibition, unfortunately, has been dogged by controversy because the bodies are prepared in China without documentation of consent, and may even have been Chinese prisoners. If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have gone.
Nevertheless, the idea of housing preserved human remains inside a giant pyramid (admittedly not a traditional one) at least makes more sense than most of the overall postmodernity of Las Vegas. I just wish that they’d worked with an exhibition that showed more care and respect for the human condition.
Since I didn’t know this while viewing the exhibit (I thought it was a version of the von Hagens exhibit), we really found it quite interesting and informative. You really do develop a deeper understanding of how the body works, where the organs are, and how everything fits together. And it’s not as gross as we thought it might be. My sister-in-law found it fascinating, except that the display of embryonic and fetal development was a bit difficult for her.
Turns out that I really don’t like the thought of the human body being sliced in half vertically; there were two of those there, and though I was able to detach myself to examine them, it was much more difficult than the other bodies there.
The amount of delicate and careful work to remove major muscles while preserving delicate nerves and veins intact was also quite impressive. Regardless of the ethical issues involved, it was very beautifully done. The preserved veins and arteries, where they injected plastic into the blood vessels of an organ, and then removed the surrounding flesh, had an amazing coral-like quality.
I wish I could recommend this to others, but the issues regarding body sourcing outweigh everything else in this exhibit for me. Instead, please go see Body Worlds, if you can.