Throughout human history, we have presented a mystery to ourselves. The  essential components of the body are generally well understood:  meat, bones, veins that stitch the whole together. But in every culture, there is a search to define that missing something—the secret spice—that animates these pieces.

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This search often leads to intangible

realms: divinity, the soul, magnetism...but sometimes, the key to animation is reflected in physical materials. Artisans and craftspeople visualize their understandings of the body and its functions through maps and models.  The most talented creators of these objects, the true Dr. Frankensteins, are those that can bring a sense of life to what they have built. This mortal spark often lies in the viewer's wondrous sense of gazing both at an object and their self.  

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