The first thing that people probably assume about an experience involving the examination of, and close proximity to, preserved bodies is most likely that it is for ghoul loving Goths and assorted weirdos.  I happen to have a rather morbid curiosity and don’t find myself squeamish around blood and guts (except smells, I can’t do smells, taking out the trash makes me want to vomit.  But I digress…..).  So when I was offered the chance to attend the pre-opening media event for the Bodies exhibit currently in town, I was actually very excited.

I missed the exhibit both the last time it was here and when it was in the Washington, DC area when I lived out there (although that’s a pretty sordid town, and many people you meet could probably pass as corpses).  Not knowing what to expect from either a media or an experience standpoint, I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into the exhibit and was immediately greeted by Dr. Roy Glover, the Chief Medical Advisor for Premier Exhibitions, Inc. – the firm that develops and tours the “Bodies” exhibit.  I must be honest here and say that I was expecting him to be a corporate shill attempting to woo the media.  I was pleasantly surprised to find Dr. Glover to be a man with a firm handshake and a kind, inquisitive disposition.  He treated me like I was writing the front-page story for The New York Times, and to his credit I seriously doubt he actually believed that.  He resume in anatomy runs very deep (over 30 years as a medical professor, and he is Professor Emeritus of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Michigan), which set my cynical mind at ease.   I only mention this because I found his attitude to be largely indicative of the purposes of this exhibit.  Sure, Premier Exhibitions is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: PRX), and they aren’t in the business of losing money.  However, Dr. Glover’s presentation made it eminently clear that there is as much, if not more, weight placed on education and experience than on profit.  Case in point: entrance to the exhibit this go round is $19 for adults, compared to around $40 the last time.  This was explained as sensitivity to the economic downturn, but also to providing a first rate exhibit that was accessible to anybody with the intellectual, if not self curiosity to be able to experience “Bodies.”

The layout of the exhibit itself is brand new for “Bodies.”  Located in the former Adidas store on 5th and Pike, the exhibit takes on an open, inviting atmosphere as opposed to a structured, “You will follow this path and like it,” design.  This works surprisingly well in the former retail space, and while I’m not sure if I believe that this layout was their idea and not a product of the space they had to work with, I will admit it works.  The stated purpose of this exhibit is education.  People will not become engaged or walk away from the experience with lasting memories if they feel like they are being forced into something.  Each major system of the body has it’s own portion of the building, and you have unfettered access between the lot of them.  Projectors showing short movies, colored lighting and simple, clean design make one forget that they are in the company of countless real corpses and assorted body parts (diseased and otherwise).  It is timely, what with the current national debate regarding health care reform, that people are able to experience such a personal and indeed candid look at what really happens inside of us.  I am a big proponent of preventative medicine (which if you ever saw me with my shirt off you would place that statement somewhere on the “is he fucking kidding me?” side of ironic), and you have no other choice than to see what poor decision making will do to you.  Lungs that look like asphalt, livers that look like aliens, gall-bladder stones that would stuff up the exhaust pipe on your Prius, sights like these make one re-consider the cocaine off the filter of a cigarette before one smokes it and that double-Jack Daniels night cap.  Seriously though, this exhibit is rad.  The pictures below are of blood vessels.  Like, and arm or a leg or an entire body of blood vessels.  They inject the vessels with chemical a, then dissolve the rest of the flesh with chemical b, and what remains is a perfect, impossibly detailed and only feasible in nature 3D representation of what was once there.  Education or not, this shit is utterly fascinating. Honestly, I don’t even think somebody with a weak stomach would have a hard time seeing this stuff – it is so well done and inviting that you quickly throw aside the fact that you are looking at the remains of a human being.  Using cutting edge technology, they even have an entire body sliced in horizontal pieces from top to bottom (we’re talking like 5mm thick each slice), and one of a body sliced vertically, which you can kind of see in the picture, though unlike the real journalists with the multiple camera’s and telephoto lenses, I only had my Blackberry – Gonzo journalism, anyone?

One portion of the exhibit focuses solely on fetuses in every stage of development.  For those sensitive to this type of thing – don’t worry – not only is that portion clearly delineated from the rest of the exhibit with a warning on the door, but these samples have absolutely not been taken from aborted pregnancies.  This was arguably the most fascinating, educating, and necessary portion of this exhibit.  At that stage of life, we are virtually all the same – seeing this up close and personal gave even this loud-mouthed goon step back and ponder.  Don’t get me wrong – I wouldn’t change my rigidly pro-choice stance if you held a gun to my head – but this portion of the exhibit was truly awe-inspiring.  If you see this article, you need to trust me and go see this exhibit immediately.  Take the kids, take your parents, hell, go see it on a date.  It’s not scary, it’s not creepy, it’s not cliched.  It’s completely fascinating and something we all need to experience, as in truth, we are all experiencing what they have on display every day of our lives.

From Premier Exhibitions:

BODIES….The Exhibition
1505 Fifth Ave.
Tickets available at the venue, or at www.bodiestickets.com
Adults = $19
Seniors (60+) = $15
Children (4-12) = $14
School Groups = $10/pp
Private Groups = $15/pp