Past Events
- Institute of Ideas and the Royal College of Physicians present
- Morbid Fascination: the body and death in contemporary culture
- Venue: Royal College of Physicians, London
- Date: May 16, 2003
- This event has now taken place
Transcripts available:
Contemporary art seems enraptured with the visceral effect of the physical matter of the body. Gunther Von Hagens’ Body Worlds exhibition attracted millions to view plastinated flesh, and many have volunteered to be part of future exhibitions. While art wallows in flesh, the media debate whether images of the war dead are offensive. At the same time the outcry over retained body parts at Alder Hey shows the public is unhappy about the medical use of their loved ones’ bodies, and there is a slow decline in the donation of body parts to science. It seems while the artistic embrace of the body is welcomed, the scientific gaze causes problems. Why are there such different interpretations of what it means to respect the dead body medically and culturally?
Speakers:
- Ken Arnold
- head of exhibitions, The Wellcome Trust
- Piers Benn
- lecturer in medical ethics, Imperial College London
- Alastair Campbell
- Professor of Ethics in Medicine, University of Bristol
- Michael Fitzpatrick
- GP, author of The Tyranny of Health
- Jane Wildgoose
- artist and designer
Chaired by
- Tiffany Jenkins
- Institute of Ideas