THE SEROPOSITIVE BALL

The second case study deals with a networked event that took place in Paradiso in 1990 and builds on the same context as the Galactic Hacker Party in 1989. ^{note 130}It was concerned with "How AIDS is changing our world". At the time the AIDS crisis was worsening rapidly and there was no cure. People who were diagnosed with AIDS had to face the fact that their life expectancy was diminished to months. People diagnosed with HIV had the sentence hanging over their heads that they were going to develop AIDS. The fact that political will is crucial when fighting AIDS, that "Silence = Death" as ACT UP stated, was already clear to many people in 1990.^{note 131}To break the silence was one of the motivational factors behind the networked event that was called The Seropositive Ball / Art Online for AIDS / ICATA 1990, in short the 0+Ball. In addition to the political agenda of "How AIDS changes our World", the 0+Ball explicitly emphasized "Living with HIV and AIDS".