King Tut's Viscera Coffin King Tut's Death Mask

August 9, 2005 Correction Last Tuesday, Single Shot made an error, and we'd like to set the record straight. In the shot entitled "Body Electric" we said: As far as L.A. art exhibits go, King Tut is big man on campus these days. But don't let that ten-story poster of the famous death mask (you know — the one that's not actually included the Tut exhibit) distract you from the real treasure currently at LACMA. We received word from a LACMA representative that the image depicted in the Tut advertising campaign was not that of the famous death mask — which is barred from leaving Egypt — but was, in fact, that of King Tut's viscera coffin. We got it wrong. And we're sorry. Here is a picture of the ad as it appears on the wall of the LACMA West building: Monster-sized, it's hard to tell these two artifacts apart. As a result, some attendees have gotten frustrated when they didn't find the life-sized death mask in the exhibit. The viscera coffin, by contrast, is just a miniature, sized to hold the dead king's liver. We asked the LACMA rep if any measures had been taken in shooting the ad to avoid confusion over the similarities between them. In the week since we asked, we have not received a response. If you never saw the first exhibit, or you're just not really familiar with Tut, the fact that one key piece is missing might not matter to you. But in case you go expecting to see a life-sized Tut mask, you might want to size down your expectations. As for the museum, if they don't see any reason for the confusion, well then — da' Nile ain't just a river in Egypt.