Body Worlds
Body Worlds
1 Piccadilly Circus, London W1J 0DA
Permanent Exhibit
£16-£39.50
Body Worlds is Gunther von Hagens’ famous exhibition of real life bodies preserved through the method of plastination. Having been exhibited in more than 130 cities around the world since 1995 and reaching more than 47 million visitors as a touring show, it was time for the exhibit to take up a permanent residency – now in London’s Piccadilly Circus.
I have been exposed to facts about the body from a young age, due to my mum being an Osteopath (and subsequently forcing me to study Biology until University). I find it both fascinating and terrifying, so was both intrigued and apprehensive about the Body worlds exhibition I had heard so much about. We went on a Saturday afternoon – a slight mistake, as any Londoner knows Piccadilly Circus on the weekend is a strict no-go-hell-zone. It was also the day after my company’s summer party, meaning I was feeling pretty tired and fragile.
This was not made easier by the faff we were given when trying to get in. We had booked tickets online (£20 instead of £25 on arrival), which gave us a barcode I thought we could use to get in straight away. However, we were told that we needed to put our backpacks in a locker – an additional £2 for a small one, on top of the £20 you’ve already paid! After this, we re-joined the queue, only to reach the front and be told we needed to queue to print our tickets. Another classic queue later and we were FINALLY ready to join the main entrance queue again. They should really make all this information clearer with signs, or friendlier staff – not the evil stare and dismissive shoo I was given when I asked where the bag lockers were… although, if I was stuck in Piccadilly Circus all day Saturday in 30 degree heat I’d probably be a bit of a bitch too…
We were ushered into a lift and taken up to the 5th floor, where it was explained that we would need to travel downwards in order to continue the exhibition. We were given some uncomfortable but very informative headsets – with a point and shoot method to them depending on which pieces of information you wanted to hear. A majority of the work was kept in exhibition boxes towards the centre of the rooms – with individual organs or replicas of these organs sat side by side, usually showing a process or a deterioration (e.g. smokers lungs v healthy lungs).
The bodies themselves are fewer than I expected and formed into complex and weird positions. They are mostly positioned at the corners of rooms, rather than being the main attraction, and don’t contain any contextual information, meaning that they’re left unexplained and looking a little odd at times (one was bent over carrying a globe – I have no idea why). In a section around intercourse, there was a couple actually engaging in a penetrative reverse cowgirl position – with a note saying “the bodies displayed in this feature gave consent to be displayed in a position of intercourse”. Can you imagine that? All for the greater good of human education I guess…
The complex plastination technique, which can take up to a year to complete for one body, is not actually explained until the end of the exhibition, by which time you are knackered. I feel like it would be much more beneficial to have this process explained at the beginning, so that you can be more aware of what is to come. One thing which stood out was how fabulously slim all the bodies were, and given I knew nothing about the process I was wondering if they had stripped their bodies of all fats or if von Hagens only like skinny people. Not to get too offended, but if we wanted to truly display the human form we should have an array of all sizes… wiggle and all.
Turns out that the plastination technique replaces all fat and water in the body with plastic, explaining the tiny physique of the models. Over the 5 floors there is a lot to learn, yet none of it feels majorly enlightening. The overall purpose of the exhibit is to get people to think more about their health, something I didn’t really pick up on or see a direct connection to. Body worlds is interesting but just might not be worth the big price tag. Go because you’re unlikely to see anything like it again – but read up on the process before and wear some comfy shoes!
OVERALL RATING: ****
https://bodyworlds.com/city/london/
