Despite numerous advances in science, the human body can still seem mysterious to most of us. Visitors to “”BODIES … The Exhibition”” will find signposts to guide them through this frontier filled with intimate yet obscure wonders and discoveries.
Facts and trivia about the body and health are highlighted throughout the exhibition, which is on display in The Rialto Building, 300 E. Congress St., until Sept. 12. You are as likely to find out that the brain trumps computers when it comes to memory storage as you are to learn about how many teeth the average smoker loses every decade.
Of course, there are the expected spines, skeletons and stomachs that wouldn’t be out of place in an anatomy class. Whole bodies mingle with organ parts and systems, and healthy specimens are often juxtaposed with those that are diseased. One of the more impressive displays of this ilk is tuberculosis and how it can affect organs other than the lungs, such as the kidneys and spine. A healthy lung is lumped next to one that is enlarged, blackened and speckled with tumors.
A person walking through the exhibition can see the fusion of art and science, life and death. In one area, an entire body is sectioned to look like tree rings preserved in golden amber, or perhaps as a three-dimensional MRI scan with its true colors on display. Veins and arteries branching to and from the heart resemble blooms of coral that have found a new home on dry land. With its cap removed and the veins left in place, a skull resembles a smiling calavera overgrown with blood-red vines.
The bodies are not the only works on display. Drawings made with light fixtures highlight and reflect the main sections of “”BODIES.”” A dense forest of tree trunks is in fact muscle fibers writ large. Crisscrossed tunnels that seem to outline an underground labyrinth are nothing more than the connections created between a few neurons in the brain. The area on the reproductive systems features an egg magnified to cover an entire wall with a sperm placed next to it for comparison. An information plaque next to this states that the female egg is the largest cell in the body, and the male sperm the smallest.
While “”BODIES”” is suitable for most audiences, children may need some guidance and answers about what they see. There is also a section on fetal development featuring fetuses from different stages of pregnancy, which has the exhibitors placing a warning for anyone who may want to avoid such sights.
Throughout history, many cultures and religions have viewed the body as a temple, a sacred and mysterious place that is to be constantly cared for as it provides us insight into our selves and the world. Today, we still create temples to guide us back to this belief, whether it’s with the modern gym, the anatomy lab or the museum.
If You Go:
Sunday – Thursday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Friday & Saturday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
$14 – $22
Group rates available.
Audio guides available for $5.
