Fleshing out a bizarre body of work : "The process was invented by Polish-born former East German anatomist Gunther Von Hagens in 1977. He patented plastination in 1982, and launched an exhibition of artfully posed corpses — playing chess, riding bicycles, astride a horse — under the name Body Worlds in 1995. Body Worlds still tours; there are two exhibitions in the US, and Dr Von Hagens' work was featured in the latest James Bond film, Casino Royale."
I had seen the exhibition originally on the French news and was disturbed. I didn't feel much better when I saw Casino Royale...and now, we have another exhibition here. People will decide for themselves. It is a triumph of science and art. It will fascinate and it will inspire. It will satisfy curiosity and some of these dead people art exhibitions will be confronting. Should we be less inspired by dead people than by living beings? I just think dead people need to be at rest and at peace. Maybe they can be that as a work of art...but people are not objects, nor raw materials. A question of ethics. For me it's about respecting someone and if a body becomes raw material for an exhibition, for scientific experimentation...no, I am not happy with that. I guess it's derived from the work of Leonardo da Vinci. I can see them becoming ornaments in homes. Sorry, not for me and not a thing which will put people to rest.
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