Brains at MOSI.

Hello all, I was worried that I wouldn't be posting in a while. How foolish I was. As a proof of this, I shall regale you with the following story, the story of my trip to the brains exhibition. Sit tight.

Exhibition

The exhibition was entitled "Brains: The Mind as Matter". The theme of the event, as you may have guessed, was the brain. The brain, the organ which determines how we spend our days, which decisions we make and which holds all of our memories. Yet the event is not as science-orientated as you would think. In order to not frighten anybody away with science, there was a large emphasis on science meeting art. This meld of science and art ensures that the event is easily enjoyed by all. As proof of art being on equal ground with science, the exhibition had commissioned a specialist artist to create some rather spectacular prints. I will come back to this later, as there is much more to be discussed.

Slice of human. 

The exhibition was split into 4 sections, each one regarding a different surgical practice involving the brain. The section  titles were vague, with titles such as "Giving/Taking" and "Cutting/Treating", to allow several avenues regarding the brain to be explored.

Sections

The sections were enjoyable for visitors of varying interest, there were articles explaining the different neurological practices for those who were fascinated, but it was just as easy to stare at brains in jars, if you so wished. The exhibits ranged from rare surgical textbooks regarding the brain (one from the famous surgeon Andreas Vesalius), through the aforementioned prints, to slices of the human body and the brain. One fascinating exhibit was of a human spinal cord, which was being preserved for all to see. I will admit, it was slightly strange to see that on a Tuesday afternoon.

Above: The work of Andreas Vesalius.

Above: Brains in jars. Lovely.

Above: The spinal cord, in all its glory.

There were also video exhibits, which explained different methods of testing, scanning, measuring (etc) the brain. I will leave those to you to watch. Get back to me, tell me how they are.

Location

The exhibition itself is currently (at time of writing) on the first floor of the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI- http://www.mosi.org.uk/). In my opinion, MOSI was a bit of a strange location (My original thought was that it might have been better suited in the environment of the Manchester museum), however I was proved wrong. It serves as a pallet cleanser for those (like myself) who would normally visit MOSI for its exhibits on the physical sciences. Another benefit for MOSI being used is that the exhibits from Manchester itself seem to belong in the historically mancunian environment of MOSI.

Above: A resin cast of the blood vessels in the brain. The resin is 

pumped into the vessels, where it solidifies. The rest of the brain is 

corroded away with acid, resulting in this exquisite view of what 

feeds the brain.

Art

As previously mentioned, in order to not appear as another purely scientific exhibition, MOSI took some artistic influence. This came in the form of Daksha Patel, a wonderful woman who did some inspired work for the collection. Her works used the brain as the overarching theme, unsurprisingly for the event, to produce works which included a print of the human nervous system and an unstable piece of art depicting the brain. Like all good art, you can (like myself) look at it and just enjoy how it looks, or you can search for a deeper meaning. I think I'll stick with just admiring the pretty pictures. 

As I mentioned previously, the entire exhibition aims to put science and art on equal ground. The best example of this is to the right, in the resin cast of the blood vessels in the brain. Call me pretentious (go ahead), but I truly think it shows how art can come up from even the most scientific regimes.

Cost

Completely free! This is not a case of it being free to get into the main museum and being charged to get into the special exhibition. No, it is completely free if you want. If you do wish to show your gratitude, you can make a (recommended £3) donation to MOSI at their entrance.

Summary

An exhibition about brains, which isn't puts science and art on a level playing field. It sounds strange, risky even, but I think (or my brain does) that it is a risk which works. Why does it work? Well I've already tried to explain it, so I'll leave it to you. Go ahead and find out, it's open until the 4th of January.