Computer art scene

The history of computer art predates the computer art scene for several decades, with the first experiments having taken place in the early 1950s. Devices like plotters and teletypewriters were commonly used instead of video display screens. The earliest precursors to ASCII art can be found in RTTY art, that is, pictures created by amateur radio enthusiasts with teleprinters using the Baudot code.

In the early days of microcomputers, what could be shown on a typical video display screen was limited to plain and simple text, such as that found in the ASCII code set. In the early 1980s, users of IBM PC compatible computers began to experiment with ways of forming simple pictures and designs using only the 255 characters within the Extended ASCII character set, specifically known as code page 437, created by IBM. Modems and networking technology allowed computer users to communicate with each other over bulletin board systems (BBSes); the operators of these BBSes used ASCII art to enhance the aesthetic appearance of their systems. The common user interface or video mode shared by all systems was plain text. As a result, a "scene" of artists arose to fill the need for original art to distinguish one BBS from another.

256 and 16 color progressive images from 1980s VGA card. Dithering is used to overcome color limitations.

In 1987 IBM introduced the VGA card. Early VGA graphics were "high resolution" images, generally using an 8-bit depth (256 colors) and a resolution of 320x200x256, 360x480x256 (hacked Mode X), or 640x480x16 colors. VGA was not intended to be displayed via a BBS and the vast majority of the early works in the IBM PC artscene were distributed as coded executables called "loaders" or "intros" rather than raw bitmap images. In fact, it was considered to be "lame" to release an uncoded VGA work of art from the early- to mid-1990s, a sure indication that your group was not skilled enough to retain a worthy programmer.

The advent of custom image viewers developed by groups within the artscene, such as ACiD View and iCEView, began to shift the perception of how VGA art should be distributed and what the accepted practice should be. A coded VGA which did not take any of the advantages of being an executable, like special effects or music, became viewed as an impractical use of disk space—all of this in turn spawned a number of competing image viewers, and even "Viewer Wars" between rival art groups. Talented underground artists such as CatBones continued to help pioneer and define what is now referred to as the "hirez artscene", further championing the move away from coded VGA to stand-alone imagery with his impressive artwork. Hirez today implies higher resolutions than before, such as a 1024x768 pixel canvas or larger, greater depth of color, and is created with much more sophisticated and modern software.

Despite the fact that contributors to the artscene can be found worldwide, the scene remains detached from mainstream bbs and internet culture. This can be seen as a result of the artscene's early affiliations with hacker and software piracy (warez) organizations. As early demoscene groups were organized by cracktros coders, artscene members were often found designing the .nfo files detailing warez releases. In addition much of the ansi art provided for warez BBSes was drawn by future members of the artscene. Prior to the popularity of the internet in the 1990s, the most efficient way to distribute software and files across BBSes was via a courier system. Both the warez scene and the artscene utilized this system, and in many cases warez couriers could be found distributing monthly artpacks.

In addition to connection that the various underground groups had, a common attitude and relationship between scene members developed. The general belief that "newbies are lame" and "veterans are elite", as well as the use of leetspeek, created an environment that was sometimes difficult for new members to enter. In particular, many artsceners' distrust and bitterness towards new America Online users in the 1990s may have eroded the possibility for a wider membership base and audience for the artscene.

• "Colly" - A collection of multiple works of ASCII art compiled and presented as a single text file.
• "Collab" - A collaborative artwork between two or more artists. The artists exchange the file and work on it, creating unique works.
• "Compo" - A competitive event which can take place either physically at a demoparty or on-line.
• "Rip" - Artwork created in the RIPscrip format, or an act of plagiarism.
• "Scroller" - An ANSI artwork which is longer than 25 lines is called a "scroller" because it scrolls down the screen on an MS-DOS machine as it is being displayed.
• "Stylerip" - To borrow someone else's artistic style.

• Danet, Brenda. "Cyberpl@y: Communicating Online". Oxford, UK: Berg Publishers, 2001. ISBN 1-85973-424-3.
• "Dark Domain: the artpacks.acid.org collection" (DVD-ROM). San Jose, CA, USA: ACiD Productions, LLC, 2004. ISBN 0-9746537-0-5.
• Scott, Jason. "BBS: The Documentary" (DVD). Boston, MA, USA: Bovine Ignition Systems, 2005.
• Zetter, Kim. "How Humble BBS Begat Wired World". Wired News. June 8, 2005. Retrieved October 27, 2005.
• Wands, Bruce (2006). Art of the Digital Age, London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-23817-0.