Know Thyself

"A few minutes in, goulash was the last thing on my mind."

Inside our bodies: Exhibition and exhibitionisms

Aside from provoking debate on death and donation, what do these infamous 'body exhibitions', championed by Gunther von Hagen tell us about ourselves - and might they even inspire? Daisy Bell investigates.

I spent an exhausting morning driving from a disappointing Bratislava to Budapest. I arrived hungry for something to inspire. So, gallery or goulash? As it was, I ended up at 'Bodies... The Exhibition' , where preserved human corpses and their innards had been assembled much like they are at 'Body Worlds', Gunther von Hagen's exhibition. I'd seen von Hagen's last show in London five years ago, so how would its Hungarian equivalent shape up? A few minutes in, goulash was the last thing on my mind.

The exhibition was different only in name from the 'Body Worlds' exhibit I'd already seen. Essentially it was the same show: you take a journey through human life, encountering bones, blood vessels and organs you never knew existed. There are comparisons between healthy and damaged livers. We see the progression of the spread of cancer and the effects of smoking on your lungs. Really, shows like these should be a compulsory field trip for anyone remotely interested in biology. But they are not science shows. It's much more than that. These shows can have a profound effect on people. The human body takes on a whole new meaning when it's pulled apart and, if you'll excuse the pun, dissected like this. Tony Hawk, a man who's pushed his body further than most, saw Gunther's current show and vowed "never to take his body for granted again". If it did that to Tony, imagine what it could do for you.

"All of us have those organs and bones. There are no cultural differences in an intestine."

So, in these shows, you visually explore the human body as you move from room to room. I started at the skeletal system, crammed around a glass box full of bones comparing the biggest to the smallest. Then I moved onto each of the systems, my understanding of each one's function growing as I went. The bodies showing the nervous system are stripped of all irrelevant organs, meaning the audience see exactly which parts are used. Walking in this sea of skeletons and veins, you become more aware of your own bits. You become more appreciative of your own body, that living and breathing instrument of whatever it is you choose to do.

Courting controversy

Many find these shows shocking, and it's not hard to see why. The most disquieting room for me was the one with fetuses. It sets out to show the stages in an unborn child's development. To see its growth is fascinating, but it's also unquestionably difficult. It feels like you're in the presence of something wrong, and, because of that, you end up reconsidering your views on abortion. How could you not think about such things when presented with two fetuses: one young enough to be aborted; the other too old? It's chilling to say the least.

The Hungarian show I saw - 'Bodies... The Exhibition' - is one of many unaffiliated exhibitions like von Hagen's original 'Body Worlds' series. Each provokes controversy. Where dead human bodies are on show, that will always be the case. For starters, where do these bodies came from? Turns out the Budapest corpses came from the Dalian medical University's Plastination Laboratories in the People's Republic of China (why yes, of course); but, understandably, there were complaints as to whether or not the bodies were donated with consent.

There were even claims that some were sold on the black market for $300 a hit. Other reports suggested that the original 'owners' of the bodies had been tortured and executed. Resignations over the show ensued, and a state bill in Washington was introduced to ban exhibits without clear documentation of donor consent in 2007. All Gunther's bodies are now, we are reliably informed, sourced from obliging donors. Feel free to do your bit too - if you dare. At the end of the exhibition in Budapest, there were two books: one for comments and one for signing up to donate body parts when you die. Unsurprisingly, the comments book was filling up more quickly. No matter how much we may be drawn to voyeurism and peering inside other people's bodies, it takes a certain type to willingly expose their own - even in death.

Is it pornography?

Additional critics compare the exhibitions to pornography, suggesting that the bodies are stripped from any larger human significance; they are objectified. Even if their owners consented to being displayed like that, they wonder if there might be something wrong with a society that pays money to "gawk" at the remains. So, does the popularity of the current exhibition question the sanity of our society?

I'm not so sure. I found the show in Budapest to be a uniting rather than diverging experience. To me, it amplified the connection we have as humans. All of us have those organs and bones. There are no cultural differences in an intestine. Criticisms of these exhibitions are missing the point. They're not about death; they're about life, the elemental things we share, the bonds between ourselves and others. The shows teach us not to take our bodies for granted, to turn them towards our own means, to explore how far they can go. One is reminded of that ancient Greek saying, to 'Know Thyself'. Above all else, it implies, we should endeavour to know ourselves. But how many of us really do? The body shows provide inspiration for us all.