AIDS Quilt In Cyberspace

By NATASHA WANCHEK

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 28 (UPI) - The Names Project Foundation AIDS Quilt, a numbing reminder of the human toll taken by the deadly disease, has entered a new dimension - an online World Wide Web site that allows universal access to the unique memorial, officials said Thursday.

The site, which went online on Dec. 1 - World AIDS Day - will soon include an art gallery of electronic quilts created by friends, family members and partners of AIDS victims using graphics programs rather than needles and thread.

"We're exploring various mechanisms so people can be co-creative and create things on their computer and submit them over the Internet," said Henri Poole, president of vivid studios, the San Francisco company that put the Names Project on the Web. "The Quilt is a piece of art a lot of people contribute to, and we want people to have the same opportunities online."

For now, the site includes an ever-growing gallery of the real quilt, information on donating time to host the quilt in one's community and submitting panels, and links to AIDS sites and resources.

The electronic gallery, as well as bulleting boards and a page for poetry and short story submissions, will be added in mid-1996, Poole said.

The Quilt consists of more than 32,000 handmade, fabric panels each featuring a unique design to memorialize an AIDS victim's life. The panels are 3 feet by 6 feet and range in color, material and style.

Anne Garwood, a Names Project official, said the artwork truly represents the toll of the deadly disease as it grows by 50 panels each week, a number that is certain to increase through the Internet contributions.

Twelve quilts, with eight panels each, are included in the online gallery, and Garwood said that, eventually, all quilts would be available at the site.

"The Internet and the Web is a whole new crowd for us," Garwood said. "We have displays all over the world, but now people can reach this project from home."

Garwood said the Names Project hopes to lure young people to the online home page.

"The Web site will allow us to include more people," she said. "Not everyone is hooked up, but we're making new contacts."

The site is already getting feedback from the people they hoped to reach.

A 14-year-old self-proclaimed "netsurfer" from Laguna Niguel signed the vivid studios online guestbook after viewing the site.

"I feel that anyone who has AIDS or is HIV positive should be treated like a normal human being," he wrote. "I'm a 14-year-old netsurfer who wants to help the fight against AIDS and HIV. Whoever has AIDS or are HIV positive may e-mail me to share their stories, and I'll share some of the things I've had to deal with in my young life so far."

Poole said people will find the site in a variety of ways, through online search engines and related links. Once there, he said, the site will provide people with a mechanism to communicate their personal experiences.

The concept for the project originated from a vivid studios employee whose brother has AIDS, Poole said, adding that it was an unusual experience to build a site that will survive for years.

"This particular project, unlike most of our other corporate projects, will be around 100 years from now," he said. "A lot of things you see on the Net and TV are just not going to survive time because they're not that important."

The Names Project site is at http://www.aidsquilt.org.

Copyright 1995 The United Press International

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