Over the past couple of years, there has been much discussion about the touring "Bodyworks" exhibit, created and constructed by a German artist, made of plasticized human corpses. (The process happens in China, I believe.)

Our favorite Catholic high school teacher, the Anonymous Teacher Person has recently blogged about her qualms about accompanying a school group to the exhibit.

(Now, I don’t know if this is the same "bodyworks" exhibit that’s been, for example, in LA and Chicago, but it certainly seems the same.)

The rest of this particular exhibit is organized by system, so each room has bodies stripped of all systems but one, basically. The exhibit contains bodies from a medical facility in Beijing – some of which were donated to science, and some of which were unidentified "John and Jane Does." I felt a visceral sorrow looking at the bodies of these people. To die with nobody to mourn you is a tragedy; to then be injected with polymers, stripped of your musculature, and exhibited for onlookers ready to drop $20 for the opportunity is a travesty.

Then again, my students were very respectful and fascinated by the exhibit. I do think it enhanced their understanding of how intricately designed we are. Just…you know, people wouldn’t be lining up for this exhibit if it were Amazing Plastic Replicas of Bodies. It’s the macabre that makes it sensational.

And she has further, slightly less negative thoughts here..

And it’s worth contemplating – the difference between this and the Capuchin ossuaries is….(fill in the blank)