B,b,b,b,b,b,baby got back

Alas, my spitefully dedicated readers, but the fatuous words must go on. I apologize for the echoing silence here the last couple days, I was in New York and couldn’t manage to obtain internet access in one of the most wired cities on earth. Go me!

There’s a lot I’d like to say, but life’s insane right now…plus, brevity’s the soul of wit (hence, I will now commence my exegesis). The days were mostly work with little play. I did check out the progression at the Trade Center complex and walk from Wall street up to the bottom of Central Park, over to the Hudson, and back to Times Square. We’re not talking about trivial distances here. If you’re in the Chelsea neighborhood, the Greek Kitchen is a great little restaurant.

I’m also here to proudly claim that in a city teeming with world-class museums, I managed to visit their paragon of high culture: The Museum of Sex (Mosex). If you’re thinking Strip Clubs and porn flicks, I wouldn’t bother wasting the 15 bucks for admission. You might as well stay home and hunt around on the internet. If, however, you’re interested in exploring the historical context of modern sexuality, pornography, and sex education I’d highly recommend dropping by. The curators obviously paid close attention to how their exhibits might be interpreted, because although they dealt with material easily susceptible to crassness and shallowness, they managed to maintain a sophisticated and sensitive treatment.

That does not, however, imply that they hide anything. Noooooooooooooo, trust me. You’ll see your fair share of bawdy movies, candid interviews, and exotic contraptions. I found it refreshing to openly learn about a universal, yet often cloaked, human drive. Go check it out.

On a side note, the gallery entitled “Men Without Suits: Objectifying the American Male Nude Body” made me think about gyms. I think the modern gym would be one of the most fascinating developments of our modern world for a time traveler from the past to see. The whole idea is kind of space age in its own way…people running in place in stale, white rooms while lined up right next to each other with their headphones on. Although never receiving a second thought, those modern gyms didn’t really become normal until the 20th century.

Alright I’m done rambling. Flickr’s “is having a massage” right now, so I’ll post a few pics later.

Body Worlds-When science met art

Among the many super-duper-neato things I did over the weekend in the Windy City, I checked out the Body Worlds exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in South Chicago. For those not familiar with this exhibit, a little history: Gunther von Hagens finished his medical studies in West Germany in the mid-70’s after a tumultuous few years in Communist East Germany. After practicing medicine for a few years, he invented the plastination technique which enabled the cessation of body decay by replacing water and fats in a dead body with polymers. This dearth of water denied destructive microorganisms the environment they need in order to colonize and eat away at dead flesh.

Armed with this powerful ability to maintain the presentation of a body, von Hagens eventually decided to put together an exhibit exploring the wonders of the human body. Hence, Body Worlds. Educational in nature, the exhibit explores each major functioning unit in the body (muscular system, skeletal system, digestive system, nerve system, etc.) by using the bodies of donors (people bequeath their bodies upon death) dissected and segmented in various ways. Sometimes you’re looking at an isolated organ, other times your looking at a body in a running pose with all the skin stripped away to enhance the effect of muscles in motion.

Although the entire exhibit captivated my interest, von Hagens’ work with the human circulatory system has to be one of the most astounding things I’ve ever witnessed. The handlers injected a red polymer dye into the blood vessels of chosen donors until the corpses’ entire network of vessels was glutted with the solution. Once dry, this polymer hardened and maintained its shape. Next, a combination of chemicals and ultrasound dissolved the overlying tissue and bone, while leaving the polymer-filled circulatory system completely intact. When finished, a surreal 3-dimensional representation of the human form remained that showcased places where vessel networks exist and nerve ends concentrate (i.e. lips and eyelids). The example shown at left offers some idea of the beautiful resulting cast. It made you look at the human body in a whole new way.

I highly encourage anyone passing through Philadelphia (October 7-April 23, 2006) or Toronto (September 30-February 26, 2006; Body Worlds 2…it’s actually in Cleveland until September 18th) to take a couple hours and find out what cirrhosis of the liver looks like.

Cathartic creation

Everybody has their little secrets. Many have their big secrets. In the fall of 2004, Frank Warren decided he wanted to hear the unspeakable spoken. Warren, a successful businessman in the medical research field living in Germantown, Maryland, distributed blank postcards all around the DC area with a return address and the following instructions:

'You are invited to anonymously contribute a secret to a group art project. Your secret can be a regret, fear, betrayal, desire, confession or childhood humiliation. Be brief. Be legible. Be creative.

Not only did he get a few returns, his mailbox soon overflowed with responses. His unique, yet modest idea for inclusion in a local art exhibition has since blossomed into a project of international scope. Having surpassed 5 million hits on his website and catalogued over 3,000 postcards, this ‘accidental artist’ now spends more time on his postcard project than at his real job. For a more involved history and analysis of Warren’s work, The Guardian recently detailed this anomalous art in an article fittingly entitled ‘Secret Service’. NPR also aired a piece in March.

I think the person who introduced me encapsulated the feel of the website best: Some of them are funny, some are trite, some are artistically beautiful, and some of them you can relate to. I guess its liberating, to unburden yourself of secrets...to strangers. Why is it that we are so afraid that the people closest to us can't handle the truth? I highly recommend taking a few minutes and checking out his website because the selections are pretty moving.

The hype continues to grow as Melbourne-based composer Sasha Stella decided to create a music/theatre performance based upon the project which promises to entice along the same vein as the Vagina Monologues. On top of that, a book is in the works and a number of exhibitions have been planned.