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The 91,000-name AIDS Memorial Quilt,
the largest public art display of its kind, is being digitized so that it can
be viewed in its entirety.
Images of the quilt’s 47,000 panels
have been sewn together virtually using Microsoft Surface, an enhanced
commercial computing platform. Viewers of the 60-inch-wide, interactive,
touch-screen table can see the quilt, totaling 1.3 million square feet, in its
entirety.
The first version of the table will
be on display during the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, June 27-July 8. On July
20, some physical quilt sections will be laid out on the National Mall - the whole
quilt is too large to fit. Four interactive tables will be placed around the
Mall for viewing.
“The idea is that you use the table
not as a substitute for looking at the textile panels. You still look at the
physical panels - they’re richer than any digital experience. But what our
table will allow you to do is search for a particular one. And also get a sense
of the scale,” said project lead Anne Balsamo, professor of interactive media
and communication and senior research fellow at the University of Southern
California’s Annenberg Innovation Lab.
Viewers also will have the
opportunity to add their own reflections, thanks to a mobile application
Balsamo is building. “If you walk by a panel that really moves you, you can
type in the panel number, go to the digital page, and leave a remembrance,” she
said. “We want to give people a way to get into the stories of the quilt.”
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
