Associated Products
Stitching the Future of the AIDS Quilt: The Cultural Work of Digital Memorials (Article)Title: Stitching the Future of the AIDS Quilt: The Cultural Work of Digital Memorials
Author: Anne Balsamo
Author: Ioana Literat
Abstract: In light of a widening generational disconnect and the increasing fragility of the textile artifact itself, the cultural legacy of the AIDS Memorial Quilt is under threat. This article describes the collaborative creation of digital experiences that aim to augment and revitalize the AIDS Memorial Quilt as an artwork of continued social, cultural, and political significance. By discussing the past, present, and future of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, this article contextualizes the Quilt's technological journey, including the efforts to create digital datasets of images and metadata. This discussion will illuminate an important emergent area of design research in the digital humanities: the creation of cultural technologies for the purposes of digital memorialization.
Year: 2014
Primary URL:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15551393.2014.955500Primary URL Description: Link to the publication on Taylor & Francis website.
Access Model: Subscription only
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Visual Communication Quarterly
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
AIDS Quilt Touch: The Design of an Interactive Digital Memorial (Article)Title: AIDS Quilt Touch: The Design of an Interactive Digital Memorial
Author: Jon Winet
Author: Anne Balsamo
Author: Dale MacDonald
Abstract: This paper outlines the design considerations for the creation of three interactive experiences about the AIDS Memorial Quilt — an extremely fragile work of U.S. cultural heritage. The AIDS Quilt Touch project is a complex media system that includes not only interactive experiences, but also nuanced socio-technical practices to engage audiences in viewing, searching, and annotating the AIDS Quilt.
Year: 2016
Primary URL:
http://2016.xcoax.org/xcoax2016.pdfPrimary URL Description: Link to the whole publication in PDF
Access Model: Free Access
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: xCoAx: Proceedings of the Conference on Computation, Communication, Aesthetics and X
Publisher: xCoAx
The Cultural Work of Interactive Memorials: Lessons from the AIDS Memorial Quilt Digital Experience Project (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: The Cultural Work of Interactive Memorials: Lessons from the AIDS Memorial Quilt Digital Experience Project
Author: Anne Balsamo
Abstract: ‘Epidemics, like wars, mark a generation for life’.
This presentation discusses the creation of an interactive memorial that was designed to augment the viewing of the textile Quilt. I will demonstrate three digital experiences: 1) an open-source mobile web application called AIDS QUILT TOUCH; 2) a tangible tabletop interactive that enables viewers to SEARCH the database of Quilt images to find a specific image and to BROWSE the archive of Quilt panel images; and 3) a community sourcing application that engages people in analyzing and archiving information about the Quilt.
This effort is framed by a transmedia book project called Designing Culture: The Technological Imagination At Work. In creating the Quilt Digital Experiences I was interested in exploring the cultural work of public interactives, to examine how they are implicated in practices of cultural reproduction — remembering, witnessing, archiving and educating.
Date: 2/5/2012
Primary URL:
http://repo.nodem.org/?objectId=32Primary URL Description: Link to NODEM’s 2012 page about Dr. Balsamo’s key note. Includes abstract, a video recording of the key note and a biography
Secondary URL:
https://nodem.org/nodem-2012-hong-kong/Secondary URL Description: Link to the conference page
Conference Name: NODEM 2012 Hong Kong
Big Heritage, Big Quilts, and Big Canvases (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: Big Heritage, Big Quilts, and Big Canvases
Author: Anne Balsamo
Abstract: Increasingly, being able to visualize large collections of data is absolutely vital in the domain of cultural heritage—both for scholarly work and public consumption. Recent work explores novel and engaging ways to visualize and explore cultural heritage data collections.
In this session, see demos of applications built on Microsoft PixelSense and tablets that demonstrate the advantages of pen and touch computing for enhancing the user experience of specific applications. These range from handwriting mathematics with pen or finger as input, to mathematical solvers, to using multi-touch interaction for exploring large-format artworks in their rich context of related artworks, annotations, and guided tours.
We also explore the technological and social challenges of creating interactive exhibits around the AIDS Memorial Quilt, the largest community-created piece of folk art in the world. These applications are a beachhead on the untouched shores of big humanities research. They are what we can actually expect today and in the near future and are also first steps toward what might define an ideal user interface.
Date: 7/17/2012
Primary URL:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/video/big-heritage-big-quilts-and-big-canvases/Primary URL Description: Link to a page of the Microsoft Research website about the panel. Includes abstract and a video of the talk.
Secondary URL:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/event/faculty-summit-2012/Secondary URL Description: Official page of the Faculty Summit
Conference Name: Microsoft Research Faculty Summit 2012
The Cultural Work of Interactive Memorials: Lessons from the AIDS Memorial Quilt Digital Experience Project (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: The Cultural Work of Interactive Memorials: Lessons from the AIDS Memorial Quilt Digital Experience Project
Author: Anne Balsamo
Abstract: This presentation discusses the creation of an interactive memorial that was designed to augment the viewing of the textile Quilt. I will demonstrate three digital experiences: 1) an open-source mobile web application called AIDS QUILT TOUCH; 2) a tangible tabletop interactive that enables viewers to SEARCH the database of Quilt images to find a specific image and to BROWSE the archive of Quilt panel images; and 3) a community sourcing application that engages people in analyzing and archiving information about the Quilt.
This effort is framed by a transmedia book project called Designing Culture: The Technological Imagination At Work. In creating the Quilt Digital Experiences I was interested in exploring the cultural work of public interactives, to examine how they are implicated in practices of cultural reproduction — remembering, witnessing, archiving and educating.
Date: 10/12/2012
Primary URL:
http://www.nycarchivists.org/Resources/Documents/ArchivesActivismProgram.pdfPrimary URL Description: Program of the Symposium
Secondary URL:
http://www.nycarchivists.org/page-1702506Secondary URL Description: Official page of the Symposium
Conference Name: New York Archives Week Symposium 2012: Archives and Activism
Big Heritage, Big Quilts & Big Canvases (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: Big Heritage, Big Quilts & Big Canvases
Author: Anne Balsamo
Abstract: Being able to visualize large collections of data is absolutely vital in the domain of cultural heritage—both for scholarly work and public consumption. Recent work explores novel and engaging ways to visualize and explore cultural heritage data collections and tell little stories with big data. See demos of applications built on Microsoft PixelSense and Surfaces that demonstrate the architecture of intimacy and public interactives. These range from digital memorials to multitouch interaction to explore large-format artworks in their rich context of related artworks, annotations, and guided tours. We will also explore the technological and social challenges of creating interactive exhibits around the AIDS Memorial Quilt, the largest community-created piece of folk art in the world. These applications are a beachhead on the untouched shores of big humanities research. They are what we can expect today and are also first steps towards what might define an ideal user interface.
Date: 3/10/2013
Primary URL:
http://schedule.sxsw.com/2013/2013/events/event_IAP4032Primary URL Description: Link of the panel on the SXSW’s page. Includes abstract and presenter’s bio.
Conference Name: SXSW
AIDS Quilt Touch: The Design of an Interactive Digital Memorial (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: AIDS Quilt Touch: The Design of an Interactive Digital Memorial
Author: Jon Winet
Author: Anne Balsamo
Author: Dale MacDonald
Abstract: This paper outlines the design considerations for the creation of three interactive experiences about the AIDS Memorial Quilt — an extremely fragile work of U.S. cultural heritage. The AIDS Quilt Touch project is a complex media system that includes not only interactive experiences, but also nuanced socio-technical practices to engage audiences in viewing, searching, and annotating the AIDS Quilt.
Date: 1/1/2016
Primary URL:
http://2016.xcoax.org/#abstractsPrimary URL Description: Abstracts presented at xCoAx 2016
Secondary URL:
http://2016.xcoax.org/pdf/xcoax2016-Balsamo.pdfSecondary URL Description: Link for the paper in pdf format.
Conference Name: xCoAx
Big Quilt, Big Data: The AIDS Quilt Touch Project (Conference/Institute/Seminar)Title: Big Quilt, Big Data: The AIDS Quilt Touch Project
Author: Anne Balsamo
Abstract: The AIDS Memorial Quilt was created 25 years ago as a work of community activism to protest the appalling lack of attention by the US health agencies to what was then, in 1987, an increase in improbable fatalities among previously healthy gay men in the United States. Its first inception unfolded in October 1987 on the National Mall in Washington DC as part of the March for Gay Rights; it included 1,920 Quilt panels. Now 25 years later, the Quilt encompasses more than 48,000 panels, representing 60 countries and commemorating more than 93,000 names. It is the largest living memorial of its kind in the world.
This presentation discusses the creation of an interactive memorial that was designed to augment viewing of the textile Quilt. Balsamo will demonstrate three interactive experiences that are part of the AIDS Quilt Touch project. This talk is framed by a discussion of the role of the digital humanities in the creation of technological innovation.
Date Range: 2/5/2013
Location: Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
Primary URL:
https://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S36/00/78A10/Primary URL Description: Announcement of the talk
The Cultural Work of Interactive Memorials: Lessons from the AIDS Memorial Quilt Digital Experience Project (Conference/Institute/Seminar)Title: The Cultural Work of Interactive Memorials: Lessons from the AIDS Memorial Quilt Digital Experience Project
Author: Anne Balsamo
Abstract: This presentation discusses the creation of an interactive memorial that was designed to augment the viewing of the textile Quilt. I will demonstrate three digital experiences: 1) an open-source mobile web application called AIDS QUILT TOUCH; 2) a tangible tabletop interactive that enables viewers to SEARCH the database of Quilt images to find a specific image and to BROWSE the archive of Quilt panel images; and 3) a community sourcing application that engages people in analyzing and archiving information about the Quilt.
This effort is framed by my recent transmedia book project called Designing Culture: The Technological Imagination At Work. In creating the Quilt Digital Experiences I was interested in exploring the cultural work of public interactives, to examine how they are implicated in practices of cultural reproduction—remembering, witnessing, archiving, and educating.
Date Range: 3/29/2013
Location: Rob Kling Center for Social Informatics Talk Series, at the Rob Kling Center for Social Informatics at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
Primary URL:
http://rkcsi.indiana.edu/Speakers/SpeakerFiles/2013/2013_3_Balsamo_Ann.pdfPrimary URL Description: Poster of the talk
Secondary URL:
http://irreplevisable.rssing.com/browser.php?indx=2159357&item=705Secondary URL Description: Page of the Rob Kling Center for Social Informatics
Designing Culture: Lessons from the AIDS Memorial Quilt Digital Experience Project (Conference/Institute/Seminar)Title: Designing Culture: Lessons from the AIDS Memorial Quilt Digital Experience Project
Author: Anne Balsamo
Abstract: This presentation discusses the creation of an interactive memorial that was designed to augment the viewing of the textile Quilt. I will demonstrate three digital experiences: 1) an open-source mobile web application called AIDS QUILT TOUCH; 2) a tangible tabletop interactive that enables viewers to SEARCH the database of Quilt images to find a specific image and to BROWSE the archive of Quilt panel images; and 3) a community sourcing application that engages people in analyzing and archiving information about the Quilt.
This effort is framed by my recent transmedia book project called Designing Culture: The Technological Imagination At Work. In creating the Quilt Digital Experiences I was interested in exploring the cultural work of public interactives, to examine how they are implicated in practices of cultural reproduction—remembering, witnessing, archiving, and educating.
Date Range: 4/26/2013
Location: Symposium Millennial Medicine: Knowledge Design for an Age of Digital Disruption, Rice University at Houston, TX, USA
Primary URL:
http://www.medicalfutureslab.org/?page_id=16Primary URL Description: Announcement of the Symposium
Designing Culture: Lessons from the AIDS Memorial Quilt Digital Experience Project (Conference/Institute/Seminar)Title: Designing Culture: Lessons from the AIDS Memorial Quilt Digital Experience Project
Author: Anne Balsamo
Abstract: This presentation discusses the creation of an interactive memorial that was designed to augment the viewing of the textile Quilt. I will demonstrate three digital experiences: 1) an open-source mobile web application called AIDS QUILT TOUCH; 2) a tangible tabletop interactive that enables viewers to SEARCH the database of Quilt images to find a specific image and to BROWSE the archive of Quilt panel images; and 3) a community sourcing application that engages people in analyzing and archiving information about the Quilt.
This effort is framed by my recent transmedia book project called Designing Culture: The Technological Imagination At Work. In creating the Quilt Digital Experiences I was interested in exploring the cultural work of public interactives, to examine how they are implicated in practices of cultural reproduction—remembering, witnessing, archiving, and educating.
Date Range: 4/18/2014
Location: Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Primary URL:
http://disted.informatics.iupui.edu/4142_Lecture/Colloquia_Balsamo.phpPrimary URL Description: Video of the talk
Heavy Data, Cultural Memories: Lessons from the AIDS Memorial Quilt Digital Experience Project (Conference/Institute/Seminar)Title: Heavy Data, Cultural Memories: Lessons from the AIDS Memorial Quilt Digital Experience Project
Author: Anne Balsamo
Abstract: This presentation discusses the creation of an interactive memorial that was designed to augment the viewing of the textile Quilt. I will demonstrate three digital experiences: 1) an open-source mobile web application called AIDS QUILT TOUCH; 2) a tangible tabletop interactive that enables viewers to SEARCH the database of Quilt images to find a specific image and to BROWSE the archive of Quilt panel images; and 3) a community sourcing application that engages people in analyzing and archiving information about the Quilt.
This effort is framed by my recent transmedia book project called Designing Culture: The Technological Imagination At Work. In creating the Quilt Digital Experiences I was interested in exploring the cultural work of public interactives, to examine how they are implicated in practices of cultural reproduction—remembering, witnessing, archiving, and educating.
Date Range: 2/18/2014
Location: Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
Primary URL:
http://mith.umd.edu/dialogues/dd-spring-2014-anne-balsamo/Primary URL Description: Announcement of the talk. Includes video
The Archive as Boundary Object (Conference/Institute/Seminar)Title: The Archive as Boundary Object
Author: Anne Balsamo
Abstract: "Epidemics, like wars, mark a generation for life."
The AIDS Memorial Quilt was created 27 years ago as a work of community activism to protest the appalling lack of attention by the US health agencies to an increase in improbable fatalities among gay men in the United States. Its first inception unfolded in October 1987 on the National Mall in Washington DC as part of the March for Gay Rights; it included 1,920 Quilt panels. In 2014, the Quilt now encompasses more than 48,000 panels, representing 60 countries and commemorating more than 93,000 names. It is the largest living memorial of its kind in the world.
The Quilt is also an "activist archive" of the late 20th century. The activities that gave rise to the Quilt in 1987 are part of the history of the campaign for gay and lesbian rights in the US. The Quilt literally stitches together a million memories, a million stories, a million lessons about the relationship between individual lives, public culture, and political activism. In its textile form, it is an unwieldy archive. If laid out in its entirety the Quilt would cover more than 1.3 million square feet. It weighs more than 34 tons.
Date Range: 12/10/2014 - 12/12/2014
Location: Umea University, Umea, Sweden
Primary URL:
http://www.humlab.umu.se/en/research-development/events/archive/genres-of-scholarly-knowledge-production/goskp-program/Primary URL Description: Program of Genres of Scholarly Knowledge Production
Big Quilt, Big Data: the AIDS Quilt Touch Project (Conference/Institute/Seminar)Title: Big Quilt, Big Data: the AIDS Quilt Touch Project
Author: Anne Balsamo
Abstract: The AIDS Memorial Quilt was created 25 years ago as a work of community activism to protest the appalling lack of attention by the US health agencies to what was then, in 1987, an increase in improbable fatalities among previously healthy gay men in the United States. Its first inception unfolded in October 1987 on the National Mall in Washington DC as part of the March for Gay Rights; it included 1,920 Quilt panels. Now 25 years later, the Quilt encompasses more than 48,000 panels, representing 60 countries and commemorating more than 93,000 names. It is the largest living memorial of its kind in the world.
This presentation discusses the creation of an interactive memorial that was designed to augment viewing of the textile Quilt. Balsamo will demonstrate three interactive experiences that are part of the AIDS Quilt Touch project. This talk is framed by a discussion of the role of the digital humanities in the creation of technological innovation.
Date Range: 10/15/2015
Location: Center for Digital Humanities, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
Primary URL:
https://sc.edu/about/centers/digital_humanities/future_knowledge_archive/balsamo.phpPrimary URL Description: Page in the Center Website that announces the talk. It includes a video stream of the talk.
Designing Culture: The Technological Imagination at Work in the Creation of Cultural Heritage (Conference/Institute/Seminar)Title: Designing Culture: The Technological Imagination at Work in the Creation of Cultural Heritage
Author: Anne Balsamo
Abstract: This presentation discusses the creation of an interactive memorial that was designed to augment the viewing of the textile Quilt. I will demonstrate three digital experiences: 1) an open-source mobile web application called AIDS QUILT TOUCH; 2) a tangible tabletop interactive that enables viewers to SEARCH the database of Quilt images to find a specific image and to BROWSE the archive of Quilt panel images; and 3) a community sourcing application that engages people in analyzing and archiving information about the Quilt.
This effort is framed by my recent transmedia book project called Designing Culture: The Technological Imagination At Work. In creating the Quilt Digital Experiences I was interested in exploring the cultural work of public interactives, to examine how they are implicated in practices of cultural reproduction—remembering, witnessing, archiving, and educating.
Date Range: 3/4/2015
Location: Katz Distinguished Lectures, Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
Primary URL:
https://simpsoncenter.org/programs/lecture-series/katz-distinguished-lectures-humanitites/anne_balsamoPrimary URL Description: Announcement of the talk
Secondary URL:
https://simpsoncenter.org/news/2015/03/anne-balsamo-digitizing-aids-quilt-cultural-amnesiaSecondary URL Description: Article on Dr. Balsamo’s work and talk. Include video of the talk
Digital Memorials and Media Art Activism: Designing Digital Experiences for the AIDS Memorial Quilt (Conference/Institute/Seminar)Title: Digital Memorials and Media Art Activism: Designing Digital Experiences for the AIDS Memorial Quilt
Author: Anne Balsamo
Abstract: The AIDS Memorial Quilt was created 27 years ago as a work of community activism to protest the appalling lack of attention by the US health agencies to an increase in improbable fatalities among gay men in the United States. Its first inception unfolded in October 1987 on the National Mall in Washington DC as part of the March for Gay Rights; it included 1,920 Quilt panels. In 2014, the Quilt now encompasses more than 48,000 panels, representing 60 countries and commemorating more than 93,000 names. It is the largest living memorial of its kind in the world.
The Quilt is also an "activist archive" of the late 20th century. The activities that gave rise to the Quilt in 1987 are part of the history of the campaign for gay and lesbian rights in the US. The Quilt literally stitches together a million memories, a million stories, a million lessons about the relationship between individual lives, public culture, and political activism. In its textile form, it is an unwieldy archive. If laid out in its entirety the Quilt would cover more than 1.3 million square feet. It weighs more than 34 tons.
Date Range: 12/1/2014
Location: The New School, New York, NY, USA
Primary URL:
http://events.newschool.edu/event/digital_memorials_and_media_art_activism_designing_digital_experiences_for_the_aids_memorial_quilt#.WJEc6RDozwVPrimary URL Description: Announcement of the talk
Secondary URL:
https://livestream.com/TheNewSchool/digital-memorials-media-art-activism/videos/70085569Secondary URL Description: Link for a live stream of the talk.
AIDS Quilt Touch: An Interactive Digital Memorial (Exhibition)Title: AIDS Quilt Touch: An Interactive Digital Memorial
Curator: Jean Kaneko
Abstract: The AIDS Quilt Touch project uses three applications to augment the experience of the AIDS Memorial Quilt:
• A tangible browser of a virtual quilt image
• An interactive timeline of the AIDS epidemic
• A web app that enables viewers to contribute to a digital memorial site
Year: 2015
Primary URL:
http://s2015.siggraph.org/attendees/making-siggraph-installations.htmlPrimary URL Description: Announcement page of the installations at Making @SIGGRAPH 2015
AIDS Quilt Touch: Virtual Quilt Browser (Exhibition)Title: AIDS Quilt Touch: Virtual Quilt Browser
Curator: Hugh Ryan
Curator: Jean Carlomusto
Curator: Alexandra Juhasz
Abstract: The AIDS Memorial Quilt is a unique work of cultural heritage that reflects the worldwide scope and personal impact of the AIDS pandemic. The AIDS Quilt simultaneously functions as a living memorial, an intimate tribute to lives lost, and the largest collaborative artwork in the world. Since 2011 the AIDS Quilt Touch project works to expand, preserve and disseminate the AIDS Quilt through technology. The multidisciplinary team built different applications that offer diverse experiences through its affordances. The AIDS Quilt Touch Table is the only place where all the panels can be seen together. The AIDS Quilt Touch App allows users to annotate panels, expanding the stories of the Quilt.
Year: 2016
Primary URL:
https://www.visualaids.org/events/detail/everydayPrimary URL Description: Page with announcement of the exhibit “Everyday”, where the AIDS Quilt Touch Table was featured.
UT Dallas HIV/AIDS Awareness Week (Exhibition)Title: UT Dallas HIV/AIDS Awareness Week
Curator: Leticia Ferreira
Curator: Anne Balsamo
Curator: Jillian Round
Abstract: UT Dallas HIV/AIDS Awareness Week 2016 was hosted by the School of Art, Technology and Emerging Communication. The calendar of events included reading of names celebrated by the AIDS Quilt, displaying of some blocks of the Quilt, free HIV testing and a projection mapping installation based on the AIDS Quilt data, called The Lone Star.
Year: 2016
Primary URL:
http://www.utdallas.edu/aidsweek/Primary URL Description: Page of the event, including all activities of the AIDS Week.
Secondary URL:
http://www.utdallas.edu/news/2016/11/23-32325_ATEC-to-Raise-HIVAIDS-Awareness-with-Week-of-Inter_story-wide.html?WT.mc_id=NewsEmailSecondary URL Description: Article of the UT Dallas News Center about the AIDS Week.