Bodies

As we walked down the street, toward the Dome in Rosslyn, a song cycled through my head in an endlessly annoying rotation.

"If you want my body and you think I'm sexy, come on, sugar, let me know."

The song made me think of Gimme a Break, Julie, something about jeans with plastic wrap in the seat. I didn't even know if the reference was real but my mind made a connection and as soon as I heard "bodies," the play button inside my head depressed and song stuck, peppered with images of Nell Carter and the Chief, Julie and jeans.

At the exhibition, "Bodies... The Exhibition" more specifically, the song faded before flesh and muscle, bone and disease captured in clear Lucite cases. Naked eyeballs stared unseeing at the crowd gathered in uncertain wonder. It was amazing.

Through the sensitive presentation of actual whole-body specimens and individual organs, this awe-inspiring exhibition will reveal how your body works by exploring it from the inside-out.

Reviewers warned that it wasn't for the squeamish. Within the exhibit itself, a placard advised guests to consider whether or not they wanted to see the fetuses and embryos, offering an alternate route to the next phase. The "traveling anatomy show" has generated controversy for both its use of real (rubberized) human bodies and their source (the Dalian Medical School in China), but walking amongst the once living exhibits, it seemed proper. Science made interesting.

Near an exhibit on hands, fingers flexed and wrists rotated. People bounced on the balls of their feet looking at knees and ankles and toes. A scapula made me want to reach back and touch my own wings.

On the flipside, the muscles made me glad for my vegetarian status. The blackened, emphysemic and cancer-riddled lungs made me wish for a pack of cigarettes to toss in the bin, and a cirrhotic liver almost made me want to stop drinking. Almost. And let's talk teratoma. How could a woman grow something the size of a beach ball with hair and teeth and an eyeball in her abdomen?

"Mr. Goodbody had nothing on this," I observed to my friend.

We kept meeting and exclaiming our wonder. The nervous system, circulatory, reproductive. Muscles and bones from the same body mirrored each other with a full skin suit set behind the screen. It was repulsive and utterly fascinating. It made me want to take better care of myself.

Leaving, with time to spare before hitting the airport, we walked into Georgetown. As we crossed the bridge, enjoying the sun, the breeze, the day, I thought back on the exhibit. I thought of my ankles rolling, muscles stretching, blood pumping to propel me forward. Only moments earlier, I had seen then the bare upon a table. I devoted more energy to making my brain cells work and handful of muscles pulled my face into a smile.


Tag: Bodies