Plastination by Kyle DuPerrett

Chances are, you haven't heard of plastination. Don´t worry, there is probably a reason for that. Taxidermy of animals is routine, and has been for decades, along with other anatomy exhibits. Skeletons, dissections, and preserved organs are routine, and have been around for centuries. Before modern plastics, most skeletal models in schools were real human bone, and many of these are still in use today, sometimes unknowingly. Bodies used for this practice are usually donated to science, with respective religious and personal preferences taking first priority. Plastination is essentially the modern taxidermy, but the startling reality of it brings it into the forefront of culture, death, and science.

Gunther Von Hagens, a German anatomist, well versed in the medical field, pioneered this technique, and 40 years after its inception in the 1977, is the only major human practitioner with a legal multi-national workshop. As a hemophiliac, and growing up in post war Germany under Soviet control, young Gunther had an acute interest in the medical field. Hagens theorized that with modern plastics and chemicals, biological samples, or their structures, could be preserved almost indefinitely. He began to experiment, while still continuing his work teaching students and performing dissections and autopsies. Hagens was frustrated by the rules of religion regarding the dead, limiting the science of the human body, while pieces of saints and other religious figures were prominently displayed and given as gifts. After the patenting of his plastination, Hagens became visibly eccentric, working upon bodies always wearing a black fedora, copying a Rembrandt painting of a doctor; and later performed the first public English autopsy in nearly two centuries in 2005. In 2011, Hagens stated he would die of Parkinson's, and his wife would plastinate his body to be put on display with his exhibits worldwide.

But what exactly is Plastination, and why is it so controversial, even today? Plastination put simply, is treating the body with chemicals, and then replacing fluids and fat with certain plastics, allowing samples to be displayed nearly indefinitely, and quite nearly pristine. It differs from other similar methods by keeping muscles, organs, and bones together, and holds so well, touching the cadavers is actually encouraged. In terms of medical training and science, this technique is invaluable, and provides as close an insight as possible to the human body without dealing with live persons and the major safety/legal issues attached. One of the main reasons this method has seen such criticism, is mostly due to the erratic behavior of Hagens himself. (Please keep in mind that we are dealing with international law, so major differences are present).Hagens has depicted animals including elephants, giraffes, among others, to be preserved in a sort of macabre zoo. His human examples however, are where the real issues begin Hagens has offered payment to individuals of extraordinary physical specimens large amounts of money to plastinate their bodies post mortem, as well as bought bodies without permits or had them shipped to his facility without their governments knowledge. As the bodies were donated to science, it is impossible to identify cadavers, leading to speculation of sources. Exhibits include skeletons holding their own skin, riding horses, playing basketball, and in coitus. Nearly every type of activity imaginable has been displayed in one of the 4 major exhibitions. The issue is not whether plastination itself is a disgrace, but the regulation surrounding it is so alienated from what can now be done, it is ineffective.

Questions:

What do you think of donated bodies, plastinated or not?

What kind of new regulations should be put on plastination or cadavers?

Would you see the exhibit when it next tours?

Photos Below,