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| ASCII art | |
|---|---|
| Name | ASCII art |
| Created | 1960s–1970s |
| Medium | Plain text, typewriter, computer terminals |
| Notable | Ken Knowlton, Joan Stark, Paul Smith (artist), Vuk Ćosić, Andreas Freise |
| Influences | Concrete poetry, Fluxus, Dada |
| Location | Global |
ASCII art
ASCII art is the creation of visual imagery using characters from standardized character sets, developed alongside early computer hardware and teleprinter systems. Emerging in the 1960s and 1970s on systems such as UNIVAC consoles, DEC terminals and teletypes used by Bell Labs, it spread through communities connected by networks like Usenet, FidoNet and bulletin board systems associated with Commodore and Atari. Practitioners adapted techniques from earlier practices in typewriter art and concrete poetry to the constraints of monospaced fonts and limited character repertoires.
Early examples appeared on machines in laboratories such as Bell Labs and research centers like MIT where pioneers including individuals from IBM experimented with text-rendered imagery. The 1970s saw artists on minicomputers and mainframes using systems from DEC and CDC to produce portraiture and diagrams circulated at events like Siggraph conferences. In the 1980s, home computers from companies such as Commodore and Atari and the rise of networks—Usenet, FidoNet, The WELL]—enabled distribution; scene groups and users on ARPANET and university networks catalogued works. The 1990s brought ASCII into email signatures, Usenet signature files, online forums tied to institutions like University of California, Berkeley and media such as Wired (magazine), while 2000s web culture intersected with archives maintained by collectors from communities around Slashdot and Craigslist.
Artists employ monospaced fonts on devices like DEC VT100 and IBM PC screens to map characters to pixel grids, borrowing shading techniques from halftone printing used in periodicals produced by The New York Times and Life (magazine). Methods include hard-edge mosaics reminiscent of works by M. C. Escher reinterpreted in text, grayscale simulations used in academic projects at MIT Media Lab, and large-scale banners displayed at events such as Def Con and SIGGRAPH. Styles range from portraiture published in Wired (magazine)-adjacent zines to signature logos popularized by scene groups affiliated with demoscene festivals in Germany and Finland. Technical approaches adapt raster conversion algorithms developed by researchers at institutions like Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University and incorporate character frequency mappings from standards defined by American National Standards Institute.
Works have appeared in print in periodicals such as The New Yorker and underground zines circulated at conventions like DEF CON and CES. Electronic formats include plain text files exchanged via FTP servers, archived on mirrors maintained by projects affiliated with Internet Archive and repositories run by universities like Stanford University. ASCII art has been embedded in email headers and signatures used at corporations including Microsoft and Sun Microsystems, and adapted into modern image formats for web delivery on platforms such as Reddit and Tumblr.
Notable practitioners include innovators from academic labs like Ken Knowlton at Bell Labs and independent artists such as Joan Stark and Vuk Ćosić, whose exhibitions intersected with institutions like ZKM and festivals such as Ars Electronica. Other recognized names include Paul Smith (artist) and researchers like Andreas Freise who contributed algorithmic techniques at conferences like SIGGRAPH and ISEA. Landmark pieces circulated on Usenet and collected by archives at University of California, Los Angeles and the Internet Archive influenced both underground scenes and curated shows at museums such as MoMA and Tate Modern.
ASCII art influenced aesthetics in digital subcultures tied to publications like Wired (magazine) and communities such as Slashdot and 4chan precursors, shaping signature styles in early internet identity. It intersected with contemporary art movements exhibited at venues including ZKM, MoMA and festivals like Ars Electronica, provoking critical discussion in journals connected to MIT Press and criticism appearing in outlets such as The New York Times. Academic courses at institutions like MIT and Stanford University have examined ASCII art’s role in media archaeology alongside collections at Library of Congress and university libraries.
Conversion tools and editors have been developed by engineers at companies and labs such as Bell Labs, Microsoft Research and Xerox PARC, as well as open-source contributors associated with projects hosted on platforms like GitHub and mirrors on SourceForge. Notable utilities include command-line converters adapted from research at Carnegie Mellon University and visual editors used on Amiga and Commodore 64 development scenes; institutional initiatives at Stanford University and MIT Media Lab produced prototypes integrating image processing libraries.
Contemporary uses appear in social media posts on Twitter and Reddit, interactive installations at festivals like Ars Electronica and SIGGRAPH, and preservation efforts by archives at the Internet Archive, university special collections at Stanford University and University of California, Los Angeles, and curatorial programs at MoMA. Scholarly digitization projects funded by agencies such as National Endowment for the Humanities collaborate with libraries including Library of Congress to conserve born-digital artifacts and maintain searchable repositories for research and exhibition.
Category:Computer art