"Fire is motion / Work is repetition / This is my document / We are all all we've done / We are all all we've done / We are all all we've done / We are all all defenses."

- Cap'N Jazz, "Oh Messy Life," Analphabetapolothology

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Bodies

notes from my visit to the Bodies exhibit, Las Vegas strip, summer of 2012 (en route to New York via the heartland of our country).

Bodies.
the value of certain bodies over others
cutting up / butchering to put on display makes it more animal / more object
         than human

American-centric (poses, activities)
baseball, football, basketball, darts, conductor, frisbee
private parts - demeaning
pieces of faces
keeping bodies intact
death rituals / thinking about the souls of deceased
donated, unclaimed bodies -- outside of Beijing

argue: doctors use bodies for medical training all the time
different intent: donated bodies, medical benefit, education
while these are educational exhibits, there's also some element of freak show shock and awe in the experience/display -- gore element that seemed disrespectful

Bodies purpose -- "become an informed participant in your own healthcare"
"the specimens in this exhibit have been treated with the dignity and respect they deserve" -- afterthought on last wall of exhibit

No comments: