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| Today was the first time Thaynara's new boyfriend Paulo Henrique met Thaynara's family. Now he and I both have so many new friends (including each other)! back: Loyane, Wendel, me, and Lorena; front: Thaynara and Paulo Henrique |
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The Human Body Exhibit
Before the birthday party, I saw the Human Body Exhibit with Dr. Mauro. It is an interesting yet extremely controversial exhibit of Plasticates. Plasticates??? What does that mean? Well, the bodies in the exhibits are real human bodies that were plasticated. This means that after being dissected in the desired manner and treated with acetone, they were treated with a process that makes them like silicon plastic. They are completely preserved and you can see every tendon and muscle and organ and bone that the artist/scientist has dissected. The bodies in the exhibit are posed according to the artist to best display the featured section of the body. Some are cut and some are whole but they are all without skin. The exhibit here in Goiania contains just a few things (pieces from the exhibit is displayed throughout the world) but honestly I think I saw enough. It was a little disconcerting to see, although the scientist in me wanted to keep staring all day until I got up the courage to touch one. The controversy (aside from the obvious fact that these are bodies!) stems from the question of where the bodies come from. According to the artist and his company, the bodies were donated but there is some evidence that they may have come from Chinese prisons. Some evidence has been found that the bodies are those of executed Chinese prisoners. There is no doubt when looking at the exhibit that the people were of Asian descent but this is because the place where the plasticates are produced is in China.
