Body Worlds 2

CSI: Toronto
Originally uploaded by 416style.

There's a bit of a warm up before entering the main space that is the Body Worlds 2 exhibit, in its last weekend here at the Ontario Science Centre. Bones and other bits and pieces in display cases line the corridor before you see what this exhibition really is all about: real flesh and blood. Using a method called Plastecine, the creator, Gunther von Hagen, has somehow managed to restore and reveal athlete's and ordinary humans' anatomy like it's never been seen before. What you'll view is truly incredible, if you can handle the weirdness of staring at dead bodies with all its bits entact: eyes (that strangely shine when hit by overhead lights), hair, finger nails, lips, nipples and more, shown sliced, diced, pulled apart and even exploding. The smell too can be a bit much, only when viewed up close, but it was this glimmer in the eye that really disturbed me, and the after-math of visiting. As I sit here typing away I'm keenly aware of how the muscles fibers, bones and joints in my hands must look in movement, underneath the skin. It really is extrordinary, and for all its strangeness is something we must all see and come to terms with.

Get your tickets online a day in advance.