Is it just me who gets bored at exhibitions?

Today, in search of more culture than our normal sloth-like Saturday, we met some friends at the Wellcome collection on Euston Road in London in search of some enlightenment and mental stimulation.

Now the thing is that much as i think i like museums and galleries i'm starting to realise that my attention span is not where perhaps it should be, especially given that this was something that i chose to visit.

I think today, however, i finally accepted just what does manage to hold my attention, and quite frankly it's not pretty or girly...

From a child i've always been fascinated by forensic psychology, crime thrillers and fairly gruesome stuff, even though I don't have the stomach for it. For example my favourite film is The Silence of the Lambs and i must admit to enjoying a Patricia Cornwall autopsy-led thriller (not exactly taxing fiction i appreciate). So today when i found myself ambling through an exhibition on Modern Medicine trying to force myself to read articles on god knows what there was one thing that stopped me in my track. And that was a glass case full of amputation saws. Yes yes i know this is wrong on so many levels but item R15 -"finger amputation saw with bone handle" made me return to the case several times with wide-eyed and tight-stomach'd fascination.

Now i don't think i have a problem, more an "interest" that i find hard to explain to decent, non-gore loving individuals. However thinking about it this is certainly not a one off as the exhibition i've enjoyed the most in recent-ish years (after the annual BP Portrait Award - which i know doesn't fit my hypothesis) was Dr Gunthers BodyWorlds at the O2. For those who didn't visit this exhibition had people fainting with shock - but to me yes it was at times yucky to look at but overall was bloody fascinating! (no pun intented)

So i go to bed tonight afriad of spider, burglars and injections but knowing that when it comes to exhibitions the more dark the material, the more i enjoy it - charming.

www.wellcomecollection.org
http://www.npg.org.uk/index.php?id=6757