Bodies | The Movable Buffet | Los Angeles Times

04:22 PM PT, Jul 7 2006

There has to be a first for everything. And, "Bodies," the new exhibit at the Tropicana, is the first Vegas attraction that I am too squeamish to go to myself. I am amazed it is even here as a form of entertainment. The publicist for "Bodies" tells me it is an incredible learning experience, but I am curious: when did education become a goal in any casino's mission statement?

Still, the idea of seeing preserved organs and humans with their skin removed appealed to photographer Sarah Gerke. So, Gerke ventured there and sends this e-mail account along with her photos of the controversial exhibit. Read her account below.

Hi Richard:

Dead bodies in a casino aren't normally publicized to the extent of the new "Bodies" exhibition going on at the Tropicana. So when I arrived at the "Bodies" exhibit just before opening at 10 a.m. recently, I wasn't expecting to see the large crowd of people that was already waiting to get in. Since they were all wearing scrubs, I quickly realized that it was most likely some kind of field trip for medical professionals in training. Viewing the "Bodies" exhibit is a great way for people to see real human body parts up close and in three dimensions. A silicone substance called polymer is used in a process of preparing the bodies which then prevents them from decaying.

The exhibit is divided into nine different displays, each highlighting a system of the body, starting with the bare bones of the skeletal system and ending with the reproductive system and an optional room that shows fetal development and birth defects. I enjoyed how well thought-out some of the bodies were positioned, such as the display highlighting the creative functions of the brain that had a body posed conducting music. Along with individual display cases with specific body parts many of the walls were lit with shapes related to the body system of subject.

Also on the walls were anatomical facts such as: "On average, a pack of cigarettes takes 2 hours and 20 minutes off your life. We'd like you to be around longer. Leave your cigarettes here and stop smoking now!"

Next to the inevitable display of a healthy lung next to a smoker's lung is a large plastic container where people can make the decision to quit smoking right then and there. (This seems like such an odd message to be placed in a casino that employs hundreds of workers who must work in secondhand smoke, and even nonsmokers like myself who have no choice but to walk through the haze of cigarette smoke in the casino to enter or exit the "Bodies" exhibit.)

As I was leaving, I think I walked away with just the feeling that the organizers intended for people to have, which is that taking care of the health of my body needs to be a top priority in life, as it is irreplaceable.