To do (for free) in NYC today: massive red and white quilt show, may induce "Amish heart attack"

Boing Boing reader cinemajay says,

My wife and I just returned from NYC where we saw "Infinite Variety," an exhibition of 650 red and white quilts. As the husband of a quilter I'm used to going to craft-related events, but this was absolutely breathtaking in scope and presentation. It was nothing short of magical, and I say that with the seriousness of an Amish heart attack. So if you're in NYC today, (the last day of the exhibit) do yourself a favor and check it out--oh, the event is also totally and completely free.

More about the exhibit in the Financial Times. "Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts" takes place at Armory on Park. Image: untitled work from the collection of Joanna S. Rose, photo by Gavin Ashworth.

• [Bonedoggie]

  Epilepsy Schmepilepsy. They’re quilts. I was there this morning and it was incredible. Check my pics here: http://gallery.me.com/bonesteel#100503&bgcolor=black&view=grid

  Enjoy, Jon

  • [boo]

    Thanks for the totally great pics!

  • [cinemajay]

    Indeed, those are amazing photos!

• [Horace Rumpole]

  650 red and white quilts? There’s an app for that:
  http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/american-folk-art-museum-presents/id427267140?mt=8

  (It’s 590 MB, so download advisedly.)

• [Nash Rambler]

  I’m feeling a bit hypnotized over here.

• [Anonymous]

  Check out my master list of quilt exhibit photos, blogs posts, videos and newspaper articles… leave me a comment if you not listed yet
  http://patsloan.typepad.com/pat_sloan_red_and_white/

• [Anonymous]

  my pictures from the show
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/gilaudio/sets/72157626288468767/show/

• [AirPillo]

  I can see forever…

• [gwailo_joe]

  Wooooh. . .with quilts like these, who needs drugs?

• [Philipshade]

  I have it on good authority the guys from OMD hit the show while they were in NYC a couple weeks back.

• [asbuuu]

  Red and white high contrast repeating patterns like this resonate the most with the primary visual cortex in the brain. It’s a form of widely reported phosphene:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphene

  If there was ever an image that might trigger pattern-induced epilepsy, this might be it. You might want to check with Epilepsy Action about leaving it before the jump. Seriously:
  http://www.epilepsy.org.uk/info/photosensitive-epilepsy/triggers#patterns

• [bruckelsprout]

  So… what’s an Amish heart attack and how does it differ from a more standard – let’s say – traditional heart attack?

• [Yarp]

  Rad! I’m tripping at work just looking at the quilt.

• [therockmachine]

  And the White Stripes are broken up. For shame!

• [SidFudd]

  Just followed the “Armory on Park” link and had a glorious moment of WTF: The index page at FolkArtMuseum.org has a coruscating banner at the top with different works of art flowing across it. It starts with an image by Henry Darger – a collage incorporating his drawings of prepubescent girls plus some collaged mid-20th-century stamps. For just a second, this registered in my brain as a USPS banner ad. “New at your local post office – The Henry Darger commemoratives!” A bold an unexpected move in the annals of American stamp collecting. Oh well.