Darla
The Master's Favourite
I think you are referring to Robert Knox, an anatomist of the early 19th century. It is said that he turned a blind eye to the fact that most of the bodies he dissected were obtained by less than savoury means, although he was not held accountable for the manner in which the bodies were obtained or for the fact that he used them. The murderers who supplied his bodies were found out but he never even made a public apology and the public were outraged (he was a respected lecturer) - there were demonstrations and riots because of this.
The bodies used by Prof Gunther von Hagens are donated through some sort of process which I assume is wholly legal. I myself am not interested in participating in this scheme.
Prof Gunther von Hagens has pioneered the art of plastination, a method which removes the body's moisture and replaces it with plastics, such as silicone rubber, epoxy resin or polyester resin. This preserves the body without the foul odour that formaldehyde and other preservatives give off. It also allows for the positioning of the body while the pastic sets.
Hagens's work is rather macabre, I'll warrant. I went to see the exhibition in London in June and while I found it very interesting, I was a little disturbed by what I saw. His work is educational; many of the exhibits are dissected in a way which displays certain parts of the nervous system, or muscular and skeletal systems, etc. The bodies are displayed in a number of sporting positions, presumably to show the muscles "in use", although I think this is more likely an aesthetic decision. I think it is rather sick to refer to his work as art and I am not certain that he himself refers to it thus. He has set up a "school" (Japan?) where students work on the bodies. Several years go into the dissection of the bodies, and the plastination process takes several months. Some people view this "school" as a factory production line. In fact, I've just read an article in which he states "my work is not art, neither is it science". He views it as somewhere in between, because while he intends it to be educational, he admits that public opinions and reactions are like those caused by art. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that he is cashing in on this - big time!