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Body Worlds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Body Worlds

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Body Worlds is an exhibit of preserved human bodies like this one.
Body Worlds is an exhibit of preserved human bodies like this one.

Body Worlds (German title: Körperwelten) is a traveling exhibition of preserved human bodies and body parts that are prepared using a technique called plastination to reveal inner anatomical structures. The exhibition's developer and promoter is a German anatomist named Gunther von Hagens, who invented the plastination technique in the late 1970s.

The exhibition, first presented in Tokyo in 1995, has been shown in many cities in Europe and Asia. Body Worlds 2, a second exhibition along similar lines but with different exhibits, opened in 2005 at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. A third exhibition, Body Worlds 3, opened on February 25, 2006, at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Body Worlds 4 debuted February 22, 2008 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester in England.

More than 25 million people have seen one of the Body Worlds exhibits.[1]

The exhibit states that its purpose and mission is the education of laymen about the human body, leading to better health awareness.[2] All the human plastinates are from people who donated their bodies for plastination via a body donation programme.

The original Body Worlds exhibit contained 25 full body plastinates with expanded or selective organs shown in positions that enhanced the role of certain systems. Cased in glass amid the full body plastinates were more than 200 specimens showing an array of real human organs, and organ systems, some showing various medical conditions.

There are bodies with prosthetics such as artificial hip joints or heart valves; a liver with cirrhosis; and the lungs of a smoker and non-smoker placed side by side. A curtained-off prenatal wing features fetuses and embryos, some with congenital disorders.

All exhibits are accompanied with detailed descriptions and audio guides with the option of beginner or advanced, for laymen or medical professionals respectively.

The exhibits were featured in the 2006 film Casino Royale.

Contents

[edit] Selected exhibits

The body shell has been laterally separated into two halves. However, the inner organs have been left in their original positions either in the left or right body half. On the corresponding side and opposite each organ, cavities indicate the position, form and size of the organs that have been removed. The vertebrae can thus be seen in the left half, with the oesophagus in front, and the liver and the intestines in the abdominal cavity. The inter-vertebral disks can be seen in the right half, as well as the uterus with the ovaries and Fallopian tubes in the pelvic cavity.

A man, standing is holding up his body’s skin; the largest and heaviest of human organs. The pose of this Plastinate intentionally recalls images of St. Bartholomew seen in Christian religious art.

Shortly after the arrow leaves her bow, an archer shows tension in virtually all the muscles of her body. In order to show as much anatomy as possible, the extremities have been partly expanded particularly the origins of the thigh muscles. The head has been opened to demonstrate the housing of the brain and the dura mater.

This sitting specimen shows the spinal cord and the detailed pathways of nerves branching off it. The spinal cord and brain comprise the central nervous system. This system controls and integrates body functions. It is very well protected, embedded in three tough sheets of connective tissue. The spinal cord is also enclosed in the backbone. From between the vertebrae 31 pairs of spinal nerves connect the spinal cord to the rest of the body. The bundle of nerves at the base of the spine is the cauda equina the 'horse's tail'. The two sciatic nerves run from the lower spine behind the hip joint down the leg. They are the largest and longest nerves in the body.

  • Reclining Pregnant Woman* (Body Worlds 1)
Reclining Pregnant Woman
Reclining Pregnant Woman

A woman reclining on her side with her arm raised to reveal her cut away torso, and 8-month foetus – with its position and effect on her internal organs. The Body Donor chose to donate her body for Plastination – with the foetus, if it could not be saved – when she discovered that she had a terminal illness. This figure is usually displayed in a closed-off area of the exhibition, along with other displays concerning human reproduction and development.

This exhibit shows the variety of interventions and appliances available to modern surgeons and technicians, which make it possible to repair the damage resulting from injuries, illnesses, or inherited conditions. These include artificial joints at the knee and elbow; a replacement jawbone; bone repairs to the left wrist and shinbone; metal pins stabilising fractures in the thighbone and upper arm; metal plates in the skull; stabilising structures applied to the spine; and a pacemaker.[3]

  • The Smoker (Body Worlds 1)

Two systems are displayed – the skeletal system on the left, and the muscular system on the right. Combined, these form the locomotive system. The internal organs are partly visible on the left hand side, protected by the bones and muscles of the body cavity. One blackened lung is exposed, to show one of the effects that smoking has on the body. Visitors sometimes leave packets of cigarettes at this display.[4]

A man performs a skateboarding move on a ramp. Because of his upside down position, insight is given into the anatomy of the lower half of the body. The strong gluteal muscles are folded aside to reveal the sciatic nerve passing along the pelvis. The patellar tendons in the knee have been moved aside to show the deeper layers with their corresponding nerves.

The Basketball Player is posed as if running down the court, with the skull opened to expose the brain. This Plastinate gives special emphasis to the well-developed musculature, especially the large back muscles, which can be seen at the rear of the abdominal cavity.

  • The Muscleman and his Skeleton* (Body Worlds 1)

Displays a man’s musculature and skeleton side by side in the same pose. Both systems came from a single body donor. The relationship of the skeleton to the muscular structure - which rely on each other to give us stability and movement - is shown.

The horse and rider group shows the comparative anatomy of two very different mammals. In particular, the two brains are juxtaposed. It is the unique human brain that enables man to exert his will over the much larger and more powerful horse. To create this mega-Plastinate - inspired in part by the extraordinary work of 18th Century anatomist[5] – took a team of twenty people more than 8,000 man-hours, and cost in excess of 300,000 euros.

The brain consumes 15 – 20% of the body’s oxygen supply, although it accounts for just 2% of the body weight. The brain receives its blood supply via two pairs of arteries (the Carotid and the Vertebral) and all four are connected to one another in such a way that if one artery becomes blocked, the flow of blood can be diverted to protect the endangered area of the brain. These complex and beautiful structures are exposed by injecting a red dye and plastinating agent into the blood vessels, then using chemicals and ultrasound to dissolve away the flesh and bone, leaving only the circulatory system behind.

The Yoga Lady shows unusually strong musculature all over the body. A combined dissection of the extremity muscles has been performed by lifting the superficial muscle layers away from the deeper layers, to show their complexity.

Body slices – in many dimensions and thicknesses – have proven to be one of the most instructional developments in Plastination. As the technique becomes increasingly sophisticated the level of detail in the plastinated slices has become microscopic – more detailed and informative even than ultrasound scans. Because of this, more scientific developments and discoveries can be traced back to the study of these body slices than almost any other plastinated form.

Plastination allows for completely new kinds of anatomical dissection that cannot be achieved by any other means – in this case, dissection by expansion. The anatomical structures are opened and shifted apart creating artificial spaces which allow all the organs of the body to be studied, even those which normally overlap one another. For example, the left upper arm, the extensor muscles that stretch out the arm were left with the front part, while the flexor muscles bending the arm are with the rear part. Extended body views like this are only possible with Plastination, since it gives the tissues the necessary stability.

An adult male comprises 40 – 50% skeletal muscle – the muscles attached to the skeleton. Muscles are used to stand or move. Every muscle can expand and contract, but skeletal muscles are the only ones we can also move voluntarily – as football players do when they try to score a goal. The more the muscles contract, the shorter they are. This Plastinate shows the interplay between surfaces and intermediate muscles when they work together in movement.

Featured in the 2006 film Casino Royale (set in Miami, but actually shot in Prague). The three presentations differ as much as poker playing strategies. In the player on the right, both parietal bones were lifted to make the brain visible from behind. The brain has been horizontally sectioned and folded out. Beneath it is the cerebellum, below which the spinal cord is visible inside the vertebral canal. In the player on the left, the abdomen has been opened, giving a view of the intestinal loops. The unusual and striking head of the central figure was created by separating the frontal bone and cheekbones from the posterior skull bones

[edit] Regulatory framework

[edit] Human Tissues Act

Two of the countries or states to create specific legislation for Plastination exhibits are England and Wales under the Human Tissue Act 2004. This requires a licence to be granted by the Human Tissue Authority.[6] In March 2008, the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry was granted such a licence to hold Body Worlds 4.

Separate legislation exists in Scotland where human remains can be held and exhibited in museums specifically recognised by the Scottish Museums Council:

[edit] Human Tissues Act (Scotland) Act 2

This legislation covers the whole museum community in Scotland - and various bodies gave evidence to the Scottish Executive during the consultation process, including the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the Wellcome Trust, and the Museums Association.[7]

Various legislation is proposed in the U.S. - most proposals concentrate on the issues of sale of human remains, and the consent of the donors.

[edit] State of Florida, United States

The state of Florida prohibits the sale or purchase of human remains and "Authorizes certain science centers located in this state to transport plastinated bodies into, within, or out of this state and exhibit such bodies for the purpose of public education without the consent of this state's anatomical board if the science center notifies the board of any such transportation or exhibition, as well as the location and duration of any exhibition, at least 30 days before such transportation or exhibition."[8]

[edit] State of Washington, United States

The state of Washington proposes "Require written authorization to display human remains for a commercial purpose."[9]

[edit] City of San Francisco, California

California would "require exhibitors to get a county permit; to do so, they would have to prove to county health officials that the people whose cadavers were on display — or their next of kin — had consented."[10][11]

[edit] Controversies

A association football pose from Body Worlds 2 showing the muscle groups involved in kicking a football
A association football pose from Body Worlds 2 showing the muscle groups involved in kicking a football

The shows have been surrounded by controversy for a number of reasons. Various religious groups, including the Catholic Church[12] and some Jewish Rabbis[13] have objected to the display, stating that it cheapens human life, is inconsistent with reverence towards the human body, and is more artistic and exploitative than educational.

Doctor von Hagens has been accused of using bodies from deceased persons who did not give consent, such as prison inmates and hospital patients from Kyrgyzstan[14] and executed prisoners from China (this latter led to a lawsuit against Der Spiegel, which Doctor von Hagens won).

Doctor von Hagens maintains that all bodies exhibited in Body Worlds came from donors who gave informed consent via a unique body donation program.[15] A commission set up by the California Science Center in Los Angeles in 2004 confirmed Doctor von Hagens' statements.[16] There is also the issue that the children and unborn fetuses included in the exhibition had no way of giving informed consent to the display of their bodies; in the case of children informed consent would have to have been obtained from their parents.

The exhibit has been accused of perpetuating gender stereotypes.[17] Male plastinates are presented in active, and heroic roles (such as The Horseman, The Muscleman and his Skeleton, The Fencer, The Runner, and The Chess Player) while some female plastinates are shown in the context of motherhood, beauty and passivity (such as The Ballerina, wearing a ballerina's slipper; Reclining Pregnant Woman, a plastinate whose womb is exposed to show her unborn child, and Angel, whose feet are posed as if wearing high heels, with parts of her feet shaped into stilettos). There are, however, women portrayed as athletes, namely The Swimmer, The Figure Skater and The Archer.

There have been concerns regarding regulations for plastinate exhibits in general. Reporting from Dalian, China for The New York Times, David Barboza described "a ghastly new underground mini-industry" with "little government oversight, an abundance of cheap medical school labor and easy access to cadavers and organs."[18]

There have been legal process problems with displays of human remains. In the US, State Anatomical boards normally oversee the handling of bodies for medical purposes and have objected to the lack of oversight for bodies for public display. Referring to "Bodies — the Exhibition" Dr. Todd Olson, director of the Anatomical Committee of the New York Associated Medical Schools, suggests that without state or federal laws “you have no documentation of who this is”.

There are claims that the exhibit of bodies for commercial profit has reduced the donations of bodies for medical learning.[19] The Director of North Carolina State Board of Funeral Services, Paul Harris, stated "Somebody at some level of government ought to be able to look at a death certificate, a statement from an embalmer, donation documents," Harris said. "That's a reasonable standard to apply." However, to ensure the privacy and anonymity required for whole-body plastinates, the Institute for Plastination maintains a firewall between body donors' documentation and finished plastinates.

International Trade experts object to the way bodies for commercial display are imported because the way their categorization codes, as "art collections" don't require CDC stamps and death certificates that are required for medical cadavers.[20]

In an ethical analysis, Thomas Hibbs, Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Culture at Baylor University, compares cadaver displays to pornography in that they reduce the subject to "the manipulation of body parts stripped of any larger human significance."[21]

Lucia Tanassi, Professor of Medical Ethics and Anthropology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, explores in a 2006 lecture "Plasti-Nation: How America was Won",[22] questions for ethicists regarding this new scientific frontier reshaping the social anatomy of the body and the biopolitical ground that it occupies. Tanassi calls it provocative how ethics committees have contributed to the popularization of the exhibits without setting forth any process of a line of inquiry, pointing to an ethics report from the California Science Center. As part of that review, bioethicist Hans Martin Sass, was sent to Heidelberg to match donor consents with death certificates. [23] Tanassi states that the Institute for Plastination does not have even a basic level of documentation that is routine for anatomical labs, such as tagging.

Concerns have been expressed about the educational aspects, especially the inclusion of these displays for school field trips. St. Louis Diocese Archbishop Raymond Burke strongly suggested that Catholic Schools avoid scheduling field trips. It is the Bishop's opinion that parents should retain the freedom of deciding whether or not their children will view the exhibit.[24] Concerned with how "some kids process" these "graphic" images, Des McKay, School Superintendent in Abbotsford British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver, barred field trips to exhibits of plasticized human beings.[25] In an editorial to the Abbotsford News, Rev. Christoph Reiners questions what affect the exhibits will have on the values of children attending for school field trips.[26] Others - such as the Catholic Schools Office of Phoenix - acknowledge the educational content of Body Worlds.[27]

Doctor von Hagens maintains copyright control over pictures of his exhibits. Visitors are not allowed to take pictures, and press photographers are required to sign agreements permitting only a single publication in a defined context, followed by a return of the copyright to Doctor von Hagens. Because of this, a German press organization suggested that the press refrain from reporting about the exhibition.[28]

In 2003, officials of Munich tried to prohibit the exhibition there, arguing that it violated laws regulating burials and did not respect human dignity. Doctor von Hagens appealed and obtained a temporary injunction allowing the exhibition to take place, but requiring the Horse and Rider plastinate to be covered, because it was an "artistic exhibit" and not an educational display. Initial objections of a local official to the artistic exhibits were overruled by officials of the Hamburg Senate.

[edit] Exhibition schedule

Includes past, present, and future exhibitions

[edit] Original Exhibit

[edit] Body Worlds 2

[edit] Body Worlds 3

[edit] Body Worlds 4

[edit] Competitors

The financial success of Body Worlds and Body Worlds II gave rise to several similar shows featuring plastinated cadavers, including BODIES... The Exhibition and Our Body: The Universe Within in the United States, Bodies Revealed in England, Body Exploration in Taiwan, Mysteries of the Human Body in South Korea, Jintai Plastomic: Mysteries of the Human Body in Japan, Cuerpos entrañables in Spain.

Some of these contain exhibits very similar to von Hagens' plastinates; von Hagens has asserted copyright protection, and has sued Body Exploration and Bodies Revealed. The suits were based on a presumed copyright of certain positions of the bodies, but the counterparty asserts that the human body in its diversity cannot be copyrighted.

Such lawsuits[29] have not stopped the competition. While the Korean police in Seoul confiscated a few exhibits from Bodies Revealed,[30] the exhibition went on successfully.

Several of the competing exhibitions have been organized by the publicly traded US company Premier Exhibitions Inc.. They started their first Bodies Revealed exhibition in Blackpool, England which ran from August through October 2004. In 2005 and 2006 the company opened their Bodies Revealed and BODIES... The Exhibition exhibitions in Seoul, Tampa, Miami, New York City, and Seattle. Other exhibition sites in 2006 are Mexico City, Atlanta (GA), London, Great Britain and Las Vegas (Nevada). Currently BODIES... The Exhibition is at the Carnegie Science Center of Pittsburgh (through May 4, 2008).

[edit] References

  1. ^ "[http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080429/aqtu508a.html?.v=2, Yahoo Finance 06 May, 2008
  2. ^ http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1213934526/bctid1454906724 Channel M No Smoking Day 12 March 2008
  3. ^ http://wjz.com/local/body.worlds.2.693696.html
  4. ^ The "I Quit" Program, April 27, 2007.
  5. ^ http://musee.vet-alfort.fr/Site_GB/index2.htm Honore Fragonard
  6. ^ http://www.hta.gov.uk/licensing.cfm
  7. ^ http://www.museumsassociation.org/ma/11480
  8. ^ http://www.leg.state.fl.us/cgi-bin/view_page.pl?Tab=session&Submenu=1&FT=D&File=sb2554.html&Directory=session/2007/Senate/bills/billtext/html/
  9. ^ http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/Summary.aspx?bill=1253&year=2007
  10. ^ http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-corpse25jan25,0,2070702.story
  11. ^ http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=i_team&id=3355185
  12. ^ Archdiocese of Vancouver - Body Worlds Exhibit
  13. ^ 'Body Worlds' comes to Phoenix - Jewish News of Greater Phoenix
  14. ^ http://www.bodyworlds.com/Downloads/E_Kirgisien%20AW%20GVH%202.pdf
  15. ^ Bodydonation
  16. ^ Media
  17. ^ Megan Stern: "Shiny, happy people. ‘Body Worlds’ and the commodification of health.", Radical Philosophy, 118, March/April 2003
  18. ^ NY Times
  19. ^ Body exhibits titillate, but are they legal? — JSCMS
  20. ^ http://a.abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=i_team&id=3355274
  21. ^ The New Atlantis - A Journal of Technology and Society - Dead Body Porn - Thomas S. Hibbs
  22. ^ Public Lectures: Plasti-Nation: How America Was Won Archives
  23. ^ Origins of Exhibited Cadavers Questioned : NPR
  24. ^ MyFox St. Louis | TEXT: No Body World Exhibit For Catholic Field Trips
  25. ^ Abbotsford schools barred from taking ghoulish field trip
  26. ^ dignityinboston - Body worlds objectifies humanity
  27. ^ The Catholic Sun :: Phoenix Diocesan Newspaper
  28. ^ Pressemitteilung, Deutscher Journalisten-Verband, 25 August 2003
  29. ^ http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1145538532408
  30. ^ http://www.bodiesrevealed.com/korean-times.pdf

[edit] Further reading

  • Body Worlds - The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies by Gunther von Hagens Amazon-UK ASIN: B000Q2MCDU
  • No Skeletons in the Closet - a response to corpse scandals in Kyrgizstan 13 November 2003[1]
  • Franz Josef Wetz, Brigitte Tag (eds.): "Schöne Neue Körperwelten, Der Streit um die Ausstellung", Klett-Cotta Verlag, Stuttgart 2001. Sixteen authors discuss the various ethical and aesthetical aspects of Body Worlds, in German.
  • Liselotte Hermes da Fonseca: Wachsfigur - Mensch - Plastinat. Über die Mitteilbarkeit von Sehen, Nennen und Wissen, in: Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift für Literaturwissenschaft und Geistesgeschichte (1999), Heft 1.
  • Doms, Misia Sophia: Die Ausstellung „Körperwelten“ und der Umgang mit der endlichen Leiblichkeit. In: Volkskunde in Rheinland Pfalz 17/1 (2002). S. 62-108.
  • Liselotte Hermes da Fonseca und Thomas Kliche (Hg.): Verführerische Leichen – verbotener Verfall. "Körperwelten" als gesellschaftliches Schlüsselereignis, Lengerich u.a.: Pabst Verlag 2006
  • Pushing the Limits [21] - Encounters with Gunther von Hagens. Biography. Ed. Angelina Whalley 2005

[edit] External links and sources


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