Institut fur plastination, Heidelberg. (Hotlist).

www.plastination.co

Gunther von Hagens, a professor at the University of Heidelberg School of Medicine, is the inventor of plastination," a process in which every drop of water is removed from a cadaver and replaced with molten plastic. The good doctor's exhibition at the Postbahnhof am Ostbahnhof in Berlin (www. koerperwelten.com), on view through September 2, features plastinated cadavers carrying their skins nonchalantly over one arm or striking marathon-runner poses, their muscles peeling off their bones in the anatomical equivalent of cartoon speed lines. Referring to his exhibits as "anatomical artworks," von Hagens updates Fragonard for the age of xenotransplants and genetic chimera.

Mark Dery is a cultural critic whose byline has appeared in Wired, Rolling Stone, Red Herring, Suck, Feed, Salon, and the New York Times Magazine. His latest book is The Pyrotechnic insanitarium: American Culture on the Brink.