Bodyworlds.

Meet "Tai Chi Man." He's a real human body, on display at the Bodyworlds exhibit in the Dallas Museum of Nature & Science. He'll be on display until May 28th, along with a great many other real human bodies. Bodyworlds is made possible by its creator, Dr. Gunther Von Hagens, who invented Plastination.

Plastination is a scientific process that extracts all bodily fluids and soluble fat from a body, or body part, and replaces it with plastics, such as resin and elastomers; the polymer material then has to be hardened, or cured, by way of heat, gas, or UV light. This process not only halts natural decomposition, but also preserves even the most microscopic details of the specimen.

The figures are all posed in certain ways, emphasizing physical aspects of the body. This gives the viewer a better understanding of his, or her, own locomotive and nervous systems, clearly showing the interaction between the musculature and the bone structure of the human body. In addition to this, other systems of the body are also shown, in detail, by way of manipulating the bodies in certain ways, or adding dyes to emphasize qualities of the digestive, respiratory and cardiovascular systems.

What really makes the presence of actual bodies important, is the fact that the viewer can see all the specific qualities and unique characteristics, such as cancers and tumors, natural deformations, and/or arthoplasty and other artificial alterations, of a certain bodyform.

Even so, there has been heavy debate as to whether the positive scientific benefits outweigh the potential consequences of displaying the bodies in ways that make them appear alive, manipulating them as if in action. Some fear this exploits the men and women who donated their bodies to the process, making them something like a circus sideshow. Still others argue the manipulation has more artistic qualities than scientific.

However, science, by and large, is continually represented artistically. Drawing the human body in physical poses, for example, is an important way to consider the locomotive principles of the muscles, with relation to the bones and other structures of the body. The fact that it's artistic, and somewhat sensational, plays on the curiosities of people who wouldn't normally be interested in learning about the human body. It certainly got my attention.

Drama and Desire: Japanese Paintings from the Floating World, 1690–1850

Scenes from the Yoshiwara Pleasure Quarter Attributed to: Hishikawa Moronobu Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The "floating world," or ukiyo in Japanese, is a term describing the lifestyle of pleasure-seeking in Japan during the Edo Period (c. 1603 - 1867). It is marked with brothels, teahouses, and kabuki theaters, set in government-licensed red-light districts transliterated by many as the "pleasure quarters." Pictures of the floating world, or ukiyo-e, depict scenes and geography of these districts; characters who frequented the areas, such as courtesans, geishas, actors and sumo wrestlers; parodies of the gods, demons, political figures, and famous scenes from theater. Many of these woodblock prints were for commercial use, lining the streets as advertisements for theater, decorative lanterns, and within the teahouses and brothels.

The scene above, as titled, is from the pleasure district Yoshiwara in the city of Edo (modern day Tokyo). It is an original painting, currently displayed at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, TX, along with many other screens, paintings and scrolls that are far more rare than the ukiyo-e, as they were not mass produced.

What really sets the pleasure districts apart from the rest of the city, is not what went on there necessarily, but the total lack of distinguishment between the social classes. In these areas, a samurai warrior (who had to check his weapons at the gate) was equal to a commonplace townsman. The prevailing thought of the time was Neo-Confucianism, and these pleasure quarters seemed a place to seek refuge from the "sorrowful world," the earthly place of death and rebirth in Buddhism. Neo-Confucianism, at bottom, relies on the philosophical paradigm of Confucianism, coupled with the spirituality of Buddhism. Unlike many Buddhists of the time, however, the Neo-Confucianists did not separate the physical world from the spiritual.

Unrelated to the floating world, though painted during the same period, the hanging scroll to the left is displayed outside the exhibit. Entitled, Two Gibbons Reaching for the Moon, it plays an important role in coming to terms with the human condition. If you notice, the two gibbons are not reaching for the moon itself, but its reflection. Of course, many other philosophers have alluded to this phenomenon; cf., Plato, with his allegory of the cave in the Republic. As human beings, we naturally see things in a narrowing point-of-view. Some of us attempt to see the world as objectively as possible, given our human condition and the limitations of the body, but many seem quite satisfied viewing the world with blinders on. This scroll represents all the best in Zen Buddhism, and really, all the best in most of western philosophy as well. As human beings, we will always have a limited ability to know anything empirically. But if we truly attempt to view the physical world, objectively, we may see the moon.

A Quick Update...

I'm back from my Mexico/Central America trip and will blog about that as soon as I can. I'm waiting on pictures to come in the mail, however, I'll be out of town for the next ten days, or so, as I'm traveling to the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, TX. I'll have to blog about that, plus I'll be briefly blogging about the Floating World & Body Worlds art exhibits and the musical, Hair, I saw in the last couple of days. I've had about a dozen inquires on my trip so I must apologize for the delay, but either during my Austin trip, or as soon as I get back, I'll be caught up.