About Real Bodies
At the center of Real Bodies, the groundbreaking exhibit on view at Bally's Las Vegas, are these lyrics by Leonard Cohen: "You're locked in your body, it's a kind of trial. You can use it for a weapon, or to make someone smile."
Real Bodies presents 20 real, perfectly preserved human bodies and more than 200 anatomical specimens — the most startling and vivid depiction of human anatomy presently available to the public. The exhibit, which has been on display at Bally's since opening in 2016, allows visitors to explore a series of galleries full of displays of actual human bodies preserved via a process called "plastination," which replaces organic materials with plastic that prevents decay. It gives visitors an intimate look at the inner mechanics of the human body, revealing the astoundingly complex networks of flesh and blood that comprise our muscular, circulatory, nervous, and digestive systems. It's a science lesson that delves into the sort of in-depth detail typically available only to medical students, surgeons, and coroners.
More than that, Real Bodies is also a beautiful, emotional journey into what it means to be human, demonstrating not only the miraculous inner workings that we all share but also pointing toward the ultimate purpose of these fleshy forms of ours. The exhibit reveals the synergy between breathing, hunger, the rhythm of the heart, love, motion, thought, and medicine that makes each person unique, asking visitors to explore what makes them who they are — and what they choose to do with the body they've been given. System by system, the exhibition provides an approachable and fascinating journey into what's happening inside every one of us.