It looks like beef, but, does it taste like chicken?
Last week I went to see what is possibly the coolest exhibition I have ever seen. Tuesday last week was a holiday so, Louise and I headed to Taipei to see some things.
Our first stop was at the "Bodyworlds" exhibition. I don't know if this will ever come to any of your cities, but if it does, you have to go. It's a little unsettling at first. But, the queesiness passes and it becomes a wonder to behold.
If you don't know what Bodyworlds is, let me tell you. I haven't really read everything about it yet. This is gonna hafta be the rough and dirty version. Basically, what it is is bodies that have been plasticized. Cadavers were donated and then the organs and muscles and skin was plasticized. The exhibition lets you see literally EVERY part of the human body. Some organs are removed from the body and displayed seperately. Others are displayed inside th body with the skin and muscles removed so that you can see them clearly.
It was cool to see the way it all fits together. You'd be amazed! I was fascinated from the get-go. The most memorable part for me would have to be the comparison of three sets of lungs. The first set was a healthy pair. The color was white with a few blotches. The second set were from a smoker. The black marks were more pronounced and there was much less white. Much much less. The last set were from a coal miner. Not a lick of white on the lungs. They looked like lead. After looking at the lungs it made me glad I don't smoke.
The most unsettling aspect had to be the fact that the human muscle looks exactly like raw beef and pork. I am still hesitant to look at, touch, or smell raw meat at this moment.
The second place we headed to was the Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art. The exhibition right now is "Fiction.Love--Ultra New Vision in Contemporary Art." It was quite cool to see actually. There were artists from all over the world. Some of the installment pieces were thought provoking and some left me wondering "How the hell do you call that 'art'?"
The highlight of the show was a Japanese artist, Yoshimoto Nara. Click on his gallery link. He has a very interesting view of children. I don't know why but I was intrigued from the moment I saw them.
The oddest piece would have to be "Cyberwomb". We were walking from one gallery to another and we saw a line up. We figured that it HAD to be good. So, Louise and I stood in line to see what was at the other end. This was an "interactive" piece. You walk into a room that is all silver cellophane with a swing. You put on a vest covered in flaching lights of many colours. Then you put on earphones and some really bizarre music comes on. It's a cross between Aphex Twin and Radiohead with a little Dan Gibson mixed in.
Our first stop was at the "Bodyworlds" exhibition. I don't know if this will ever come to any of your cities, but if it does, you have to go. It's a little unsettling at first. But, the queesiness passes and it becomes a wonder to behold.
If you don't know what Bodyworlds is, let me tell you. I haven't really read everything about it yet. This is gonna hafta be the rough and dirty version. Basically, what it is is bodies that have been plasticized. Cadavers were donated and then the organs and muscles and skin was plasticized. The exhibition lets you see literally EVERY part of the human body. Some organs are removed from the body and displayed seperately. Others are displayed inside th body with the skin and muscles removed so that you can see them clearly.
It was cool to see the way it all fits together. You'd be amazed! I was fascinated from the get-go. The most memorable part for me would have to be the comparison of three sets of lungs. The first set was a healthy pair. The color was white with a few blotches. The second set were from a smoker. The black marks were more pronounced and there was much less white. Much much less. The last set were from a coal miner. Not a lick of white on the lungs. They looked like lead. After looking at the lungs it made me glad I don't smoke.
The most unsettling aspect had to be the fact that the human muscle looks exactly like raw beef and pork. I am still hesitant to look at, touch, or smell raw meat at this moment.
The second place we headed to was the Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art. The exhibition right now is "Fiction.Love--Ultra New Vision in Contemporary Art." It was quite cool to see actually. There were artists from all over the world. Some of the installment pieces were thought provoking and some left me wondering "How the hell do you call that 'art'?"
The highlight of the show was a Japanese artist, Yoshimoto Nara. Click on his gallery link. He has a very interesting view of children. I don't know why but I was intrigued from the moment I saw them.
The oddest piece would have to be "Cyberwomb". We were walking from one gallery to another and we saw a line up. We figured that it HAD to be good. So, Louise and I stood in line to see what was at the other end. This was an "interactive" piece. You walk into a room that is all silver cellophane with a swing. You put on a vest covered in flaching lights of many colours. Then you put on earphones and some really bizarre music comes on. It's a cross between Aphex Twin and Radiohead with a little Dan Gibson mixed in.
