Quilt Poems: Encoding Craft Traditions as Generative Poetry
Proposal Type
Individual Talk
Location
Narratives & Worlds
Start Date
July 2026
End Date
July 2026
Abstract
This talk presents Quilt Poems, a generative literature project that finds unexpected common ground between quilting, data, and computational poetry. Beginning as a NaNoGenMo (National Novel Generating Month) entry, the project encodes a library of traditional quilt patterns as structured data, pairs them with a curated word corpus, and uses software to produce visual poems whose form is literally shaped by quilt geometries. I'll walk through the process of translating a tactile, domestic craft tradition into a formal data schema — the interpretive choices that entails, what gets lost and what gets discovered — and how that encoded knowledge becomes the skeleton for visual-textual output. The software, written in Lua and fully open sourced, is designed to be generative in the truest sense: capable of producing infinite unique, printable books of quilt poetry. The project raises questions I'm still sitting with: What does it mean to archive a craft as code? How do pattern-based traditions in fiber arts rhyme with algorithmic thinking? And what's the relationship between the handmade chapbook (printed in a limited edition) and the daily poem site generating new work every 24 hours?
Quilt Poems: Encoding Craft Traditions as Generative Poetry
Narratives & Worlds
This talk presents Quilt Poems, a generative literature project that finds unexpected common ground between quilting, data, and computational poetry. Beginning as a NaNoGenMo (National Novel Generating Month) entry, the project encodes a library of traditional quilt patterns as structured data, pairs them with a curated word corpus, and uses software to produce visual poems whose form is literally shaped by quilt geometries. I'll walk through the process of translating a tactile, domestic craft tradition into a formal data schema — the interpretive choices that entails, what gets lost and what gets discovered — and how that encoded knowledge becomes the skeleton for visual-textual output. The software, written in Lua and fully open sourced, is designed to be generative in the truest sense: capable of producing infinite unique, printable books of quilt poetry. The project raises questions I'm still sitting with: What does it mean to archive a craft as code? How do pattern-based traditions in fiber arts rhyme with algorithmic thinking? And what's the relationship between the handmade chapbook (printed in a limited edition) and the daily poem site generating new work every 24 hours?
Bio
Lee Tusman is a New York-based artist and educator working at the intersection of computational media, community organizing, and digital culture. His practice spans game poems, net art, interactive narratives, and radio—often built with alternative tools that prioritize sustainability and accessibility, including L5, a Processing family programming library inspired by permacomputing. He is an active participant in artist-run spaces including organizing with Flux Factory, Babycastles, and KCHUNG Radio. Tusman is Associate Professor of New Media and Computer Science at Purchase College, SUNY, and hosts the podcast Artists and Hackers. Recent exhibitions and residencies include Pioneerworks, ZK/U Berlin, Bangkok Art and Culture Center, and ARoS Museum (Denmark).