The recent press coverage of Bodies, the exhibition at MOSI and the subsequent throng of visitors illustrates the power of press coverage, even if that coverage may not be quite what you had hoped for.

The exhibit, which makes use of real preserved human bodies to show anatomy as no text book ever could was in danger of being shut down by the state. Because of this, the exhibit received daily press coverage as the state anatomical board decided whether or not it would approve the exhibit. The board did not approve, MOSI opened the exhibit anyway and the board later conceded that it wouldn’t do anything to stop the exhibit.

Partially as a result of all this press coverage, the exhibit has opened to throngs of people. Over 1300 visitors saw the exhibit yesterday, the first day it opened. When the exhibit was first set up, The St. Petersburg Times did a small feature article. The controversy over the exhibit, however, has been front page news for the last week - a little more than MOSI initially expected I imagine, but I doubt they’ll complain about the results of the whole affair.