Bodies
This weekend I went to see Bodies: The Exhibition near South Street Seaport downtown. I've been wanting to go since I saw the ads for it.
The exhibit features tens if not hundreds of human bodies, permanently preserved with polymer preservation. Each body is dissected specifically to highlight some major bodily system. Most of the specimens are not behind glass or any other barrier, so that people can get as close as possible. Other body parts, such as the lungs, heart, brain, nerves, blood vessels, etc. have been removed and displayed separately with descriptions of what they are and what significance they have.
The entire exhibit is very well done. The lighting is somewhat somber, and people seem to sense the need to be respectful. The bodies themselves look somewhat plastic, or rubbery, due to the preservation process, which seems to help abstract away most of what people would find difficult.
I would like to be able to describe some of the exhibits, but so far my attempts to do so have not been successful. For that reason, I highly recommend that if in the vicinity of one of the exhibits, you should definitely make an attempt to go see it.
