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to the ascii scene: Newschool and oldschool. |
Newschool was more than just the use of the standard /, \, |, -, and _. It |
didn't limit itself to merely an outline, it went a step further to add filling |
and shading. Several artists arose that awed the scene with their innovation. |
Artists such as Asphixia (aka J. Hale), Killa Hertz, Nuremberg, later on |
several artists from groups like s0ap (Sons of Ascii Prophets) and Noname, |
artists like Mr. Self Destruct, Discyple, Cain, countless others, all showing |
creativity and talent in the way they designed their asciis. |
Unfortunately, the times of the great ascii art era appeared to have waned. Not |
many groups thrive still, Remorse is still around, being the longest lived |
group, along with Odelay and a few other smaller ones. The Amiga ascii scene |
also is not thriving as much as it once was, many of the older, once |
highly-active artists are no longer participating as they used to. The once |
deemed unstoppable momentum of the ascii community appears to be slowly winding |
down to a halt. |
But have faith. We will prevail. We were here before you, and we will be here |
long after you. Ascii art has existed since before people used hard drives, |
back when you had to plug your Commodore 64 into the TV. It's not just an |
artform, it's an expression, a style. The creative process can never be stifled |
completely, and we will overcome. |
Long live ascii. |
File: academy/history/ascii_history_jgs.gmi |
=> https://web.archive.org/web/20091028050914/http://www.geocities.com/spunk1111/history.htm |
(note: this document was converted from html to text/gemini by Michael Lazar on 2021/07/18) |
# The History of ASCII (Text) Art |
DEVELOPMENT OF (ASCII) TEXT ART: |
* Text pictures are created by hand. |
* Concrete poetry is created with aide of typesetting and the early typewriter (also called "typography"). |
* Typewriter art is first documented in 1898; becomes an art form. |
* Radio teletype (RTTY) art is created using the Baudot 5-bit code. |
* Paper-tape art and punch card art are created as early forms of 'computer' art. |
* The ASCII code is created in the early 1960s and is standardized in 1968. |
* Early ASCII art - the first years of the Internet, BBS, and underground ASCII /ANSI art "groups". |
* Cousins of ASCII art -- ANSI art, America Online's 'MACRO art', and mIRC pop-ups |
* ASCII art today and in the future... |
## PICTURES AS "TEXT" |
ASCII art and other "keyboard" art uses basic text characters to create a picture. Long ago, the written word did not consist of "text". Ironically, the first written documents consisted of pictures which represented ideas and objects-- not letters or text characters. |
=>./ascii_history_jgs/hieroglyphics.jpg Hieroglyphics on Tomb in Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt (www.corbis.com/Bojan Brecelj Image ID:BJ001933) |
Note the hieroglyphics on a tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt. |
## TEXT AS PICTURES - HAND DRAWN |
Over time, the written word developed into symbols which looked more like present-day text. The very first text art pictures were drawn by hand. Creative people used ornamental penmanship to create wondrously beautiful documents and pictures. The monastic monks created breath-taking manuscripts which incorporated letters of text into their art. However, there were few other pieces of art that were made from text characters. |
=>./ascii_history_jgs/rcanterbury.jpg Illuminated Manuscript, Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury, England, UK (www.corbis.com/Angelo Hornak Image ID: AH001438) |
Illuminated Manuscript, Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury, England, UK ca. 1971-1996 An illuminated letter R legenda sanctorium at the beginning of an illuminated story of Saint Ipolitus from a manuscript at Canterbury Cathedral. |
Individuals continued creating text art images by hand. During the Korean War (circa 1950), a very talented Korean named 'Gwang Hyuk Lee' made a hand drawn text picture depicting Jesus. He used the entire text in the Bible's "Book of John" to create this multi-colored image. Rumor has it that he was killed by the North Korean communists for creating this 16" x 20" picture. This work of art is beautiful and created entirely by hand! It must've taken an incredibly long time to complete. |
=>./ascii_history_jgs/bookofjohn.jpg Gwang Hyuk Lee's hand drawn - "Book of John" - black & white image |
=>./ascii_history_jgs/bookofjohn-color.jpg Gwank Hyuk Lee's hand drawn "Book of John" - color image |
I don't have any further information about this example of hand drawn text art-- I've been told that a poster of this artwork used to be available but I don't know where it can be found. ( thank you Ennis Trimble for sending the images ) |
Shaped texts became popular as part of the concrete and visual poetry movement. |
French poet and surrealist, Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918), used the shaped text in his handwritten visual word poems. These visual word poems were given the term "calligrams" (1917). |
According to the Ruth and Marvin Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry: |
http://www.library.miami.edu/treasure/chapters/chaptr17.html |
> The calligrams of Apollinaire represent an important and original landmark in the history of visual and shaped poetry. These calligraphic poems may be considered as one of the precursors of modern concrete poetry. |
I will post an example of Apollinaire's calligram soon (when I find one). In the meantime, enjoy two hand-written visual poems created by my 8 year old son. They are entitled "Rainbow" and "Dimind" (Diamond). |
=> ./ascii_history_jgs/typographyian.jpg hand drawn typographical poems by my 8 year old son |
## TEXT AS PICTURES - TYPOGRAPHY |
People were relieved from writer's cramp once mechanical methods to create text were created. The Chinese are generally recognized as the first group of people to develop the stamp/ink printing process (2nd Century AD) and the movable-type printing process (11th Century AD). |
It wasn't until the year 1450 that Johannes Gutenberg (along with businessman, Johann Fust and calligrapher, Peter Schoeffer) invented the printing press in Germany. It was based on a wine-press design and could print about 300 pages a day. As a result, books were produced more quickly and for lower cost. The art of typography could begin! |
A nice example of typography is from the 1865 book, Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). The following tail of a mouse is from Chapter III, "A Caucus Race and a Long Tale": |
``` |
"It _is_ a long tail, certainly," said Alice, looking |
down with wonder at the Mouse's tail; "but why do you |
call it sad?" And she kept on puzzling about it while the |
Mouse was speaking, so that her idea of the tale was |
something like this:----"Fury said to |
a mouse, That |
he met in the |
house, `Let |
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