Does anyone think a deformed human skull collection is weird

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Of coarse I scooped out the brains and ate them! What do you think I am. weird or something….

It's a pity you live in the US, but I'd think that there would be an equivalent place there.
This is the Huntarian Museum, housed in the HQ of the Royal College of Surgeons. Great place if you have specific interests. Worth a visit if you're ever in London. It's free, and there are also assorted lectures.

http://www.rcseng.ac.uk/about/virtual_tours/museum.html

I would be delighted to know that someone was going to use my skull (or any other bits) after my death. Stage prop, coffee table, wherever. Tan my hide when I die, Clyde!

Deformed skulls, though, I find that idea a bit creepy. And while I don't believe that dead bodies are sacred, doing something with them that the owner didn't give permission for is rude.

I think treating the bodies of our dead with respect is one indicator that we are human and civilized. Treating human remains with disrespect is a terrible thing to do - but of course that may be exactly why it has an artistic value.

Bodyworlds is a perfect example of disrespecting the dead while failing to have artistic value.

I like his stuff, and people specifically donate their bodies to him to use.

I think there are different levels to this - often when people do unpleasant things to dead bodies they're aiming to antagonise friends and relatives of the dead person. Gunther von thingummy's stuff is more of a neutral thing - he's winding people up and he knows it, but it seems like more of a side effect than the primary purpose of what he's doing, which is either art or money. ^^ And then there's presumed consent for organ donation, which at least offer a tangible benefit aside from entertainment value.

I probably wouldn't go to see Bodyworlds if it was on nearby, and I'm not quite sure why. I'm not especially squeamish and I'm at least slightly interested in seeing how the body is made up, but I do have a nagging feeling that there's something improper about the whole thing.

I went to bodyworlds 2 years ago and thought it was really good. I was really impressed by how that Gunther bloke preserved them bodies. That gorilla was epic! I would definitly go there again.

Cook them first.
Otherwise you might get fatal diseases.

Do you have a skeleton in your closet?
Why yes, yes I do.
Right next to the festering cat corpses.

Bodyworlds isn't disrespectful because the bodies were donated specifically for that purpose. Now, if they'd been used against their will, or their relatives' will, then it would be disrespectful (as I'd heard has been done with knockoff exhibits)...

After all, we cut up dead bodies and store them in pieces, or keep them preserved to see how all the parts work together, so we can learn anatomy off them; that isn't considered disrespectful because the donors wanted us to do it, because they knew we were going to be nurses and doctors and other professionals and needed to learn. There's absolutely nothing disrespectful about that. So why is it disrespectful if a person wills his body to art rather than medicine?

What I do think is disrespectful: Displaying Egyptian mummies, and other such ancient preserved bodies, in museums. Their relatives wanted them buried, not put on display. Somehow, the intervening thousands of years seem to have convinced people that this is okay... Personally, I would have them examined via x-ray and other non-destructive imaging, the information stored, and the mummies put back into their tombs where they belong.

Yeah I am really into Egyptian stuff but the mummies in museums bother me too. Contrast that to how we treat plague victims in Europe who are exhumed for scientific study. The scientists bury them again and give a funeral for each one. The West has a lot to answer for as far as how much of Egypt and other countries heritage that have been outright stolen instead of treated with respect.

I'm going to put my corpse somewhere very safe when I die so no one can tamper with it.

No not at all. I'd like to collect animal skulls but my parents make me keep them outside until I figure out how to clean them. When I get my own house and when people come over they will feel like they are in a museum. When people come into my room, they think they are in a meerkat museum.

If they are dry and free of any remains, it is highly doubtful there is anything on the skulls that will contaminate your house. Use some 91% rubbing alcohol over them- it cleans everything and kills all germs. Then if you display them under glass or a plexiglass/plastic case nothing harmful can get out (just to make your parents feel safer- there is nothing to get out anyway). You can get some of those shadow box frames at a craft store or something and put them in that.

This discussion reminds me of a program I heard on NPR about creative ways to lay your remains to rest. One I liked was first cremation and then mixing the ashes with concrete and depositing it in the ocean to encourage a coral reef.

Haha!


It would be considered "weird". But fascinating weird. I would love to see a collection of deformed skulls.

It is rather disturbing wanting to collect human skulls to use as art, it would only appeal to weirdos.