We went to Body Worlds in Vancouver over the weekend. It is quite interesting but does not live up to its full potential.

There are three versions of the Body Worlds exhibit as well as a number of competitors (one of which is in Seattle). Version 3, the one we saw, does not include some of the most famous artifacts, including The Rearing Horse with Rider and the pregnant woman [NSFC], or even the lesser highlights of the less-pregnant woman [NSFC] and the dude from The Cell.

Plastination, not surprisingly, produces artifacts that appear plastic and therefore produce the same response in viewers as a simulacra, unless they are particularly fixated on lineage (which the fetii are apparently more adept at inducing). The exhibit does not comparison of whole bodies (as opposed to organs), so nothing provokes relating an artifact to one’s own body, never mind spiritual reflection. The information design is more like an art gallery than a museum, so the potential for lay education is not fully realized.

The public health information added to the lung cancer artifacts seems an afterthought – although smokers are known to overestimate health risks and most people have already been exposed to images of tarred lungs. More influential, we believe, is the obesity slice, although public health information could be added to many of the artifacts. One of the more disturbing labels was on a cirrhotic liver, implying that the condition is only caused by alcoholism.

Beyond the circumstances of the exhibit, we did not appreciate significant artistic expression in the artifacts themselves – besides a vague perception of gender bias. Perhaps the most disappointing thing was the gift shop, full of t-shirts rather than the obvious souvenirs (although that didn’t stop some people).