PORTLAND — If you’ve been feeling particularly mortal lately, try skipping all the suspense and visit the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry for a close examination of the inevitable results.
The stunning exhibit “Body Worlds & The Cycles of Life,” which features the real remains of real dead people, is ready to welcome the living again. There was barely time for OMSI staff and exhibit creator Dr. Angelina Whalley to set up and unveil the traveling tour-de-force in March before the coronavirus pandemic shut the museum down.
OMSI partially reopened to the public Saturday, with an eye on safety. Timed entry admissions, limiting the number of visitors in open exhibits to 25 percent of normal capacity, physical distancing and face coverings are the new normal there. Face masks are strongly recommended for everyone, and mandatory for everyone age 13 and up. If you don’t bring a face mask, a disposable one will be provided for you.
“As we head into summer with a phased reopening approach, we have extensive protocols and practices in place to keep our guests and staff safe,” said OMSI president and CEO Erin Graham. The facility is using guidelines issued by the Oregon Health Authority for zoos, museums and outdoor gardens.
Even though OMSI’s main doors are open, not everything inside is. “Body Worlds,” the parked USS Blueback submarine and the gift shop are open. All other OMSI attractions, including regular exhibit halls, labs, cafes and the theater and planetarium, remain closed for now.
Given the current world health crisis, “Body Worlds” should give you plenty to think about. It’s a display of human remains preserved through a process called plastination, which was developed to help with the education of medical students.
Plastination means replacing bodily fluids with liquid plastics that harden permanently. Before that can happen, some of the bodies are meticulously posed by the Institute of Plastination in Germany to demonstrate what our invisible innards are really up to as we do our favorite things: walk, swim, kneel in prayer, fight for the ball, dance ballet and even ride a skateboard.
The posing process is intricate, time-consuming and always based on the physique at hand, Whalley told The Columbian during a March preview at OMSI.
“We want to take care that the specimens look natural and beautiful,” she said. “It’s quite artistic. It’s like sculpture.”
Other specimens have been sliced and diced (is there any nicer way to say it?) to highlight specific details. Many glass cases at “Body Worlds” contain plastinate organs, bones, joints and nerve networks — whole and sectioned, healthy and unhealthy.
Smokers may or may not appreciate the reality check of a happy lung alongside tobacco-blackened and cancer-curdled ones; hypertensives might just feel their chests squeeze while examining clear arteries alongside blocked-up ones; people with knee pain may better understand what aches within as they study a healthy young joint alongside an older, worn-down one.
That’s the real point of the exhibit, Whalley said: About 70 percent of our bodies’ well-being is determined by our own behaviors and lifestyles. That’s still a relevant statistic during this time of life-threatening pandemic, she added in a new statement about the exhibit’s reopening.
“Knowing more about the fragility and resilience of the body at any stage of your life, strengthening your immune system to fight diseases, and exercising preventive care are key elements in taking on more responsibility for our health,” Whalley said. “I hope ‘Body Worlds’ inspires visitors to stay as healthy as possible in these crucial times.”
Sheer beauty
Even if you’re squeamish about the idea of staring at dead people who stare right back — some also demonstrating athletic stunts you’ll only ever achieve through plastination and posing — give “Body Worlds” a second thought. If this squeamish reporter’s visit was any example, all your fears and horrors will be banished by the sheer beauty and wondrous complexity of the human machine.
“There is often some hesitation, but the experience is totally different than many people expect,” Whalley said. “It opens people’s eyes and hearts to the great treasure they’ve been given. I’ve heard people say, ‘Never again will I take my body for granted.’ ”
Long, happy lives
“Body Worlds & The Cycle of Life” doesn’t just expose our innards, healthy and unhealthy, young and old; it also introduces clusters of “exceptional centenarians” from Japan to Sardinia to Pakistan who seem to defy the aging odds.
What’s their shared secret of long, happy lives? It’s no secret, Whalley said:
• Eat a light, plant-based diet;
• Make exercise and activity a way of life;
• Keep your brain exercised and active, too, and never stop learning;
• Engage with people and maintain a rich social life;
• Stay in touch with nature; and
• Stay positive.
None of that is rocket science. But it is medical science.
“We start aging as soon as we come to life, but the process is very much in our hands,” Whalley said. “I think this exhibit is the best representation of how beautiful and how fragile the body is.
