What is plastination in art?
Plastination is the process of impregnating animal, human or plant tissues with a variety of plastic or silicone products to render the tissues odor-free, dry and permanently preserved for educational and instructional purposes.
What is plastination process?
Plastination is a technique or process used in anatomy to preserve bodies or body parts, first developed by Gunther von Hagens in 1977. The water and fat are replaced by certain plastics, yielding specimens that can be touched, do not smell or decay, and even retain most properties of the original sample.
What is the purpose of plastination?
Plastination is a preservation method to generate non-toxic anatomical specimens, which can be used for long-term educational purposes. The basic idea of plastination is that a plastic polymer replaces the biological fluid within a given specimen. Dr. Gunther von Hagens first invented this method in the 1970s[1].
Why is plastination considered to be an art?
Certainly beats taxidermy, and makes burial seem like a bit of a waste. As well as providing a unique way of studying real-life samples of the human body, plastination is considered to be an art. Exhibitions of plastinated bodies often tour art galleries, and there’s a permanent exhibit of plastinated bodies at Discovery in Times Square.
Who was the first person to use plastination?
Anatomist Gunther von Hagens invented the process of plastination with the idea being to preserve human tissue in ways never thought possible. If playback doesn’t begin shortly, try restarting your device.
How many hours does it take to do plastination?
Plastination takes up to 1,500 hours of labor and a year to complete. In 1995, von Hagens and his team took their plastination show on the road with the Bodyworlds traveling exhibition. The overall goal is to get people thinking about the limits of the human body, the meaning of life, and strengthening someone’s sense of health.
When did Gunther von Hagens invent plastination?
Plastination was invented by Dr. Gunther von Hagens in 1977 at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. It is a unique process that stops the decomposition of the dead body and produces solid, odorless and durable anatomical specimens for scientific and medical training.