Traveling exhibit brings educational displays to Columbia
The South Carolina State Museum is breaking attendance records with its latest featured exhibit "Body Worlds Vital."
The exhibit, which opened Nov. 13, is one of the most popular exhibits to hit the museum since the early 2000s. Dr. Gunther von Hagens' "Body Worlds Vital" is the latest addition to the Human Saga project that displays real human bodies post-mortem — predominately for educational purposes. There are eight Body Worlds exhibitions currently touring the globe and nearly 33 million people have viewed the project as a whole. Needless to say, it is worth stopping by the State Museum to investigate these cadavers.
In 1977, von Hagens developed the process of plastination, which removes bodily fluids and fat from the donated bodies and replaces them with polymers and resins, therefore creating the plastinates. This process preserves the specimens entirely and allows spectators to observe the inner workings of the human body. These plastinates are usually manipulated to mimic human bodies in motion and can take up to three years to complete. To configure the exhibit in general, it took about a week of transporting and setting up. Each full-bodied plastinate receives a name indicative of its pose such as the Singer, the Flamenco Dancers, and the Fencer. Each Body Worlds exhibit has a distinct intention, and the Vital portion occupying the State Museum concentrates on displaying the human anatomy as well as the effects of preventable diseases on our bodies.
The exhibit "focuses on vital functions, how we can stay healthy and the things we do that hurt our bodies," said the State Museum's Director of Education Tom Falvey.
The exhibit is clearly designed to help the viewer draw conclusions about how smoking, drinking and obesity directly affect human health. Cross sections of healthy and unhealthy lungs, legs and hearts lay next to each other to provide undeniable evidence of the issues caused by these conditions. The nature of plastination also allows the spectator to view conditions such as arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome from the inside. Through these lurid plastinates and body parts, Body Worlds strongly addresses its mission of encouraging individuals to take responsibility for their own health.
Despite the disturbing concept behind the Body Worlds exhibition, any sense of uncertainty is drowned in fascination because von Hagens beautifully integrates art into his science. Although some individuals do find the subject matter to be too grotesque, Falvey reported very few instances of people leaving. And surprising enough, younger men are typically those who become uncomfortable.
"People have been trying to display bodies forever. [Von Hagens] really came at it from an artistic perspective," Falvey said.
The time and precision required to create a single plastinate sculpture is so daunting that onlookers typically gawk in amazement at each masterpiece. With 14 full-bodied plastinates — 12 males and two females — composing the exhibition, there are easily three decades worth of work on display. In each room, posters and video cover the walls to fuse this artistic science with education. According to Falvey, it couldn't be working better, saying people read the material provided in this exhibit more than in typical exhibits. All the while, people actively view the spectacles by studying and comparing their own bodies to the plastinates.
One section in particular that provides plenty of reading material is the nutritional section, which was incorporated apart from the Body Worlds exhibition. In that hallway, families from around the world pose for a picture around the food that consists of their weekly diet. In every way this section recognizes American's nutritional deficiencies in comparison to other countries around the world.
"I've heard a lot of people say, 'Wow, we really need to think about cutting down on some stuff,'" Falvey said.
As readership is increasing, general attendance is skyrocketing.
"It's outrageous," Falvey said. "We've never seen so many people here!"
Over the weekend, more than 2,300 people attended the State Museum and accordingly, the museum has been forced to change the way it operates by adding staff members and creating a new reservation system.
On April 15, the "Body Worlds Vital" exhibit will be moving to Ontario, Canada, so make sure to stop by the South Carolina State Museum before it leaves the country. Audio tours are available for an additional cost, and there is even a viewing option that caters to medical students who understand anatomical jargon.
Admission to the exhibit is $11 for adults in addition to the museum's general admission of $7. The museum is open Tuesday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.
Additional information is available on its website at www.museum.state.sc.us.