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WEDNESDAY

At the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, legions of suburban third-graders are unleashed daily into one of the museum’s best-known attractions: a giant walk-through reconstruction of the human heart. The affair involves cutting-edge sound effects, a host of black lights, and possibly, though my memory may embellish, a decoder ring. Though the exhibition posts no maximum height restrictions, an adult wading through the 4-foot-high swamp of Harry Potter fans clogging the left ventricle will draw a certain degree of scorn from museum staffers. Trust me. Fortunately, Yuriko Yamaguchi has pioneered a grown-up solution. The centerpiece in her latest exhibition, Return, comprises a collection of tiny resin-and-wire constructions. The delicate cream-colored creations imitate the sprawling anemone-esque structures of single-celled organisms and appear to be seeking each other out in an attempt to form an anthropomorphic igloo. The installation’s interior is digitally rigged to sense intruders, whose presence triggers a recording of heartbeats. Yamaguchi’s interpretation of Frankenstein’s monster speaks to a much-needed infusion of the organic in an increasingly plastic world. The show is on view from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (to Dec. 17; see City List for other dates) at the Numark Gallery, 625 E St. NW. Free. (202) 628-3810.