The Crossroads of Plastination and Pilgrimage
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3549592 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Chadwick Co Sy Su (0000-0003-1260-2589, University of the Philippines Manila, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 87 |
| Publication date | 2018-03-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel9030087 |
| OpenAlex | W2792352743 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 19 |
At the Singapore Science Centre in 2010, I went to Body Worlds, an exhibit set up by the Institute for Plastination, founded by Gunther von Hagens. As I later learned, he pioneered plastination-the art, science, and technique of preserving entire bodies and body parts for use in medical and anatomical research, exhibition, or both. A few months after, I made the decision to donate my body after death to the Institute under arrangements similar to that of a Living Will. In my visits to two other Body World exhibits in Germany and the Netherlands, I have seen organs perfectly preserved and had thoughts occur to me that one day, I may well be an exhibit specimen instead of an exhibit attendee. By establishing a connection with existing pilgrimage literature; and using a combination of thick description and pragmatic analyses; this paper puts forward the proposition that visits to these; and other similar; exhibits constitute a pilgrimage of and to the self. The paper also discusses the ethics and practical consequences of body donation; and evaluates the arguments for and against the body donation decision from the lenses of the person making the donation; the person's significant others; and societal influencers. The paper concludes by suggesting take-off points in discussing the connection between plastination and pilgrimage; particularly in the contexts of intercultural communication and religious studies
Aesthetics · Ancient history · Art · Donation · Epistemology · Exhibition · Influencer marketing · Management · Pilgrimage · Political science · Proposition · Visual arts · Woodcut · Christian Theology and Mission · History · Law · Media, Religion, Digital Communication · Medicine · Philosophy · Psychology · Religious Tourism and Spaces
From Pilgrim to Tourist – or a Short History of Identity
Materialising Oceania
Toward a post‐secular anthropology
Controlling death
Death—mine or the other's? On the possibility of philosophical thanatology
Experiencing Body Worlds
Dark tourism and significant other death
Skinless Wonders
Durable significance of political pilgrimage
Plastination for Display
The body as interactive display
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |