Electric Blanket

Electric Blanket was first projected on Dec. 1st, 1990, on the facade of Cooper Union in New York City for Day With(out) Art. Electric Blanket is an epic slide show about AIDS which intersperses the work of over 200 photographers with slide texts that include demographics, data, and slogans about AIDS worldwide.

Created by the Visual AIDS Artists' Caucus including Allen Frame, Frank Franca, and Nan Goldin, the project originated in NYC in 1990, and subsequently has toured—with updates and revisions—throughout the United States and in many foreign countries, including: Russia, Japan, Norway, Finland, Germany, England, Scotland, and Hungary. Usually presented in art spaces and museums, it has also been shown in schools, churches, outdoor spaces, and nightclubs. It has received funding from the NEA, CECArtslink, and many other sources.

Electric Blanket is organized by photographer and divided into three categories: Memorial, Action and Document. The participants ranged from photojournalists, to art photographers and photo enthusiasts, including Nan Goldin, Peter Hujar, Robert Mapplethorpe, Brian Weil, Dona Ann McAdams, Ann Meredith, and many others.

Memorial photographs, portraits of people who have died of AIDS, range from the fine art portraiture to snapshots. The Action section includes images of AIDS demonstrations, protests, and marches. The Document section was composed of work looking at the lives of people living with AIDS as well as situations of care-giving and AIDS education. Electric Blanket also incorporated statistics, facts and local images from the communities where it was presented.