The Look Again Quilt: Traditional Media to Create an Interactive Experience

Melanie Peffer, CU Faculty/Author & SciComm Consultant 

For millennia, humans used pictures to tell stories. Narrative quilts are a traditional form of pictorial storytelling, dating back centuries. The Look Again quilt is a modern example of a narrative quilt used for science communication and engagement. Since blankets are familiar and often evoke positive feelings, quilting as a science communication media may help avoid top-down cognitive processing that results in public disengagement with science. In addition, quilts can be gamified and create not only storytelling, but interactive opportunities. The Look Again quilt features two realistic eyes, one open and the other closed at the top of the quilt, above an array of blocks, each representing different aspect of biology. The closed eye side is monochromatic and represents the angst and prevalence of stereotypes when many consider biology. For example, chemical equations represented as spinning blocks and straight-line stitching to represent rigid structures. In contrast, the open eye side is full color with blocks designed to evoke a sense of wonder and curiosity at the ways biology is part of one's life. For example, including blocks with wavy stitching and layered fabrics that represent the ecosystem at a beach. Overall, the quilt encourages people to look at biology again and see the beauty of biology around them. 

https://www.colorado.edu/ics/melanie-peffer