Spomenik: resurrecting voices in the woods

Kirk, David S.; Durrant, Abigail C.; Kosem, Jim; Reeves, Stuart

Abstract

Spomenik (‘monument) is a digital memorial architecture that transposes in time otherwise hidden cultural memories of atrocity. Spomenik was designed as a simple digital audio guide, embedded in a remote rural location (Kočevski Rog, Slovenia), and working without the infrastructure normally present at national memorial sites. By resurrecting voices and cultural narratives of the deceased, positing them back in to the landscape through digital means, Spomenik opens a dialogue about the events of the past, in relation to networks of the living, exploring the role of voice and agency, as serviced through design in the act of memorialization. We contribute a detailed case study of a design-led inquiry about digital memorialization and digital preservation of cultural heritage, and a reflective account about the nature of legacy and the extent to which it is (and perhaps should be) necessarily bound to networks of collective memory, mediated through designed cultural tools.

Citation

Kirk, D. S., Durrant, A. C., Kosem, J., & Reeves, S. (2018). Spomenik: resurrecting voices in the woods. Design Issues, 34(1), https://doi.org/10.1162/DESI_a_00477

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 27, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jan 3, 2018
• Publication Date: Jan 15, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jan 23, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 23, 2018
• Journal: Design Issues
• Print ISSN: 0747-9360
• Electronic ISSN: 1531-4790
• Publisher: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 34
• Issue: 1
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/DESI_a_00477
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/904733
• Publisher URL: https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/DESI_a_00477
• Contract Date: Jan 23, 2018