Friday is a time for remembrance, compassion, education and also for thinking about what might have been. The University Museums will be participating in the “Day Without Art” as part of World AIDS Day Friday. The shrouding of several statues, a noon walk and a performance piece will highlight Iowa State’s observance of the day.

This is the 13th annual World AIDS Day, which is held every Dec. 1. The theme this year is “AIDS: Men make a difference.”

“Each year has a theme or a focus to educate on different aspects of the disease and its impact internationally,” Matthew Delay, curator of education programs, said. “Whether it’s a concern, whether it’s a fear, whether it’s brother or a loved one or a friend’s loved one that’s died, I think [AIDS has] pretty much now affected about everybody.”

Jeffrey Byrd, professor of art at the University of Northern Iowa, said the idea behind “Day Without Art” is to remember those lost to the disease.

“So many people in the arts had died from AIDS that a lot of museums and galleries just decided that they would close for the day or cover works as a way of reminding people about what had been lost,” he said.

The day will begin at 6:45 a.m. with students from the “Introduction to Museums” class shrouding six sculptures around campus in black plastic. Christian Petersen’s “Fountain of the Four Seasons” and “The Gentle Doctor” are two statues being covered.

“They will be going on campus and wrapping certain public works of art in recognition of how AIDS has affected the art community,” said Jodi Trout, intern with University Museums.

Trout said the day’s activities are a way to educate people about AIDS and to remember how it has affected the entire globe.

“It’s something that everybody needs to be aware of; everybody needs to think about and remember the consequences of our actions,” she said.

Delay said the shrouding of the works of art could be startling to the university community because it is symbolic of living without someone you’re used to seeing all the time.

“It’s sort of a jolt,” he said. “Here’s something that they walked by everyday and when something is taken away or has been otherwise removed, I think the metaphor is fairly clear.”

Delay will then lead a Campus Art Walk from the Campanile at noon. He will discuss the shrouding of the sculptures and what is now happening with the disease during the walk.

“I would also hope that we could talk on a personal level and share,” Delay said. “That’s not always easy to do, but I certainly hope that is possible.”

The day’s activities will conclude with a performance by Jeffrey Byrd, performance artist and photographer. Byrd will perform a special dance presentation at the Brunnier Art Museum at 7 p.m. The performance, composed of slow movements, will be in a Japanese-style dance called butoh, and will demonstrate Byrd’s conception of the painting.

The performance is based on Theodore Gericault’s painting “The Raft of the Medusa.” It was based on an actual shipwreck where people struggled and fought for survival on a raft, Byrd said.

“That has always been very compelling to me,” he said. “I decided to do a piece about that image and I began to see a lot of parallels between that image and the AIDS crisis. I think it’s been a lot of the same emotions going on; people being very fearful and being very self-serving and being very incompassionate.”

Byrd called the AIDS pandemic a tragedy happening in slow motion — something that cannot be viewed like other tragedies. His performance will illustrate this through slow movements.

“It isn’t about something that happens just incredibly quickly and it was awful and now it’s over and lets move on,” he said, “but it’s something that just goes on and on and on.”