Deadly Serious

A major exhibition at the Tampa, Florida-based Museum of Science and Industry consisting of 20 Chinese corpses, split open to reveal muscles and organs and manipulated into jaunty poses, has been attracting interest and controversy in roughly equal parts since its opening in August. “The corpses are, depending on whom you ask, magnificent figures created in the spirit of education or an insulting mockery created in the service of greed… The bodies are displayed in various states of simulated animation alongside placards that dryly explain basic elements of anatomy.” Florida’s anatomical board, which regulates the importation and treatment of corpses, is objecting vociferously, but the museum insists that it is acting responsibly.