ASCII art is an art born from limitations

If you've ever written on an 80085 calculator (boobs), or drawn pixel 
art in a notebook, you've already joined the ranks of these digital 
painters. But let's start at the beginning: long before computers, 
people were already creating masterpieces from letters, symbols, and 
even typewriters.

At the beginning of the 20th century, when the internet was as distant 
as common sense in politics, there was a phenomenon called "print art." 
Newspapers and magazines decorated texts with intricate patterns of 
letters, creating ornaments, portraits, and even full-fledged scenes. 
It was a kind of ASCII art, only on paper, and it appeared due to the 
limitations of printing houses, which could not afford the luxury of 
full-fledged illustrations.

One of the most famous early examples of text art can be considered the 
so-called "typewriter drawings," paintings created with a typewriter. 
People obsessed with boredom or creativity (and sometimes both) have 
been typing repeating symbols to recreate faces, buildings, and even 
famous works of art for a hundred years now. Imagine someone reading 
your accounting report and hiding the profile of Alexander the Great 
between the tables.

But let's move on to the digital world. The real heyday of ASCII Art 
came in the 1960s, when programmers, deprived of graphical interfaces, 
began to have fun with what they had - ASCII characters. Instead of 
Photoshop, they had a space, an asterisk, and a colon. However, for 
some, this was enough to invent an entire genre. Never mind where 
taxpayers' money went, sometimes naive, stupid things at first glance 
can later become something great, important, popular, and even 
valuable. Such experiments go down in history on par with space flights 
or the invention of gunpowder.

One of these pioneers was Kenneth Knowlton, who developed the technique 
of “computer mosaic” in 1966. He and his colleagues created portraits 
using symbols of varying density to simulate shadows and light. In an 
era when computers were the size of refrigerators, such things seemed 
like real magic.

In the 1970s, ASCII Art penetrated deeper into popular culture, 
including thanks to the emergence of ARPANET, the forerunner of the 
Internet. Researchers and geeks exchanged ASCII images in emails, 
because attaching pictures was as easy as transporting an elephant in a 
minibus. Yes, yes, graphic file formats already existed, as did 
computer graphics, but still in limited circles, in rare films (Star 
Wars, for example).

And in the 1980s, ASCII Art became an integral part of BBS (Bulletin 
Board Systems). When the internet was slow and modems made sounds like 
mechanical demons, images had to be text-based. Hacker group logos, 
pixelated skulls, and all sorts of cyberpunk aesthetics appeared on 
users’ screens. Some images became digital tattoos of sorts, symbols of 
underground communities. Some BBSs featured animated ASCII scenes that 
slowly loaded line by line, like neon signs on night streets.



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Teletext also played its role in the development of text art. In the 
1980s and 1990s, teletext was used not only to display news and TV 
programs, but also for more complex graphic compositions. Simple blocks 
and symbols formed recognizable logos and images, creating 
aesthetically pleasing screens even with a limited number of colors and 
pixels.

Various information boards, such as those used at train stations, 
airports and stock exchanges, also contributed to the development of 
ASCII Art. Limited in resolution and color palette, they became a kind 
of digital canvas. Some craftsmen even managed to program animations on 
these boards, turning rows of symbols into moving objects.

The use of ASCII art in web design can often be seen in the Small Web, 
an interesting phenomenon. Small Web is a movement aimed at creating 
minimalist, independent and lightweight sites, often contrasted with 
the overloaded modern Internet. ASCII art fits this concept perfectly: 
it doesn’t require complex graphic libraries, loads instantly even on 
weak devices, and conveys a sense of nostalgia. Many geeks decorate 
their websites with ASCII logos, stylized titles, and decorative 
elements reminiscent of early computer interfaces. But why? Perhaps 
it’s the aesthetics of minimalism, the desire to escape the 
standardized design of modern websites, or simply a love for the era 
when every pixel was worth its weight in gold.

Geeks often stylize their websites to look like old operating systems 
or make them look like MS-DOS program interfaces. This is not just a 
matter of aesthetics, but also an attempt to recreate the spirit of the 
early computer era, when users had a deeper understanding of how 
technology works. Such design conveys a sense of control, 
functionality, and purity that is missing from modern web pages 
overloaded with animation and advertising. It is also a way to 
emphasize their belonging to an alternative Internet culture that 
values ​​knowledge, experimentation, and autonomy.

Modern software that uses ASCII art can be found in a variety of areas. 
For example, terminal utilities such as neofetch use ASCII logos to 
display system information. Retro gaming programs, banner generators, 
and demoscene projects often include ASCII graphics as part of the 
interface or screensavers. Even in modern chats, ASCII art lives on in 
the form of all sorts of bots and meme generators. Years ago, this 
could be seen in the description of computer games, or at the very 
start before the game loads, in tutorials, or in various hacks and .bat 
files for games.

Famous computer viruses also left their mark on the history of ASCII 
art. For example, the "Casino" virus for MS-DOS displayed a slot 
machine on the screen, and the "QWalker" virus drew an animated man 
walking across the screen. In an era when hackers were more interested 
in creative expression than data theft, many viruses were accompanied 
by ASCII signatures of their creators - a kind of graffiti of the 
digital world.

The demoscene that began in the 1980s has always had a strong focus on 
ASCII art. Text demos featured complex drawings, while graphic demos 
featured ASCII elements combined with cheesy pixel effects. In the 
1990s, ASCII contests became popular, where artists competed to create 
the most complex and detailed text images. Even today, such contests 
are held at demoparties such as Revision and Evoke.

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) became the home of ASCII art, text-based 
RPGs, and all sorts of character-based entertainment. IRC channels 
featured entire emoji battles, complex ASCII drawings that appeared 
line by line, and even automated bots creating ASCII animations. In 
AD&D-based text RPGs, characters were often described using ASCII 
characters, and battle scenes and maps were generated directly in 
chats.

ASCII art exists outside of computers and typewriters. Drawings in 
ASCII notebooks can be called an analogue of digital ASCII art. 
Schoolchildren and students draw diagrams, figures of crosses and 
zeros, signatures in the style of hacker logos and even complex 
drawings in the margins of notebooks. It's like an offline version of 
the same aesthetics that later migrated to the world of computers. Fun 
fact about offline ASCII art: Kevin Mitnick, one of the most famous 
hackers in history, continued to use ASCII art even from prison. During 
his imprisonment, he sent letters in which he used text emoticons to 
convey emotions, remaining true to the spirit of the digital age. For 
him, it was one of the ways to stay in touch with the community, which 
saw him not just as a cybercriminal, but as a legend and a symbol of 
freedom of information.

Text emoticons have become an important part of digital communication. 
They appeared back in the 1980s and gradually developed into a 
full-fledged system of expressing emotions. Simple 🙂 and 😉 evolved 
into complex variations such as ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ and (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻. 
Eventually, many of them were included in the encoding tables, becoming 
an official part of Unicode. Now they exist alongside regular 
characters, preserving the spirit of ASCII art in every chat, letter 
and comment.

We can’t help but mention the beloved or hated Doom. In 1993, when ID 
Software released the legendary shooter, ASCII artists began recreating 
monster and weapon sprites in text format. This was not just 
entertainment, but a way to adapt art to the limitations of terminals, 
and not only.

Gopher is a network protocol that was an alternative to the early web 
in the 1990s. Unlike modern sites, Gopher pages were and are pure text, 
without decoration or images, which made ASCII art the only way to 
visually decorate. Many Gopher servers still use ASCII logos, frames, 
and even small illustrations to stand out from the monotony of text 
menus. The popularity of ASCII in the Gopher environment is explained 
by the minimalism and technical limitations that forced users to be 
creative, working exclusively with text.

In the 1990s, ASCII Art finally took hold on the Internet. It decorated 
forums, chats, and even websites, where instead of banners, crookedly 
formatted faces greeted visitors. If you had an email back then, there 
was a good chance that your signature had a small smiley, a boat, or a 
cat.

But don’t think that ASCII Art is just a geeky pastime. Artists like 
Paul Smith (who, while suffering from cerebral palsy, created 
incredible paintings on a typewriter) proved that art is possible even 
in the most limited conditions. His works are striking in their 
attention to detail and patience, because it took him weeks to create 
one painting.

With the development of the Internet, ASCII Art became a meme. Remember 
the same “LOLCAT” or endless variations on the theme “( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)”. 
This style is alive and well in the form of emojis, good old 
"¯\\_(ツ)_/¯" faces, and even modern NFTs (yes, someone has already 
managed to sell ASCII art for crypto).

But let's not forget the dark side of history. ASCII Art was not only 
used for fun. In hacker culture, it was a way to indicate belonging to 
a certain group. Some attacks were accompanied by ASCII skulls warning 
of an imminent digital catastrophe. If you saw a giant letter "H" made 
of zeros and ones on your screen in the 90s, you knew you were hacked.

And what about modern typewriters? Even in the 2020s, there are 
enthusiasts who print text paintings. Some use them to create works 
with the most subtle transitions between light and shadow. After all, 
who needs Photoshop and Illustrator if you have a good old keyboard and 
a ton of patience?

Today, ASCII Art is everywhere. It appears in advertising, website 
design, games, and even street art. It can be seen in Linux terminals, 
on T-shirts, and on the walls of abandoned buildings. Some artists 
still create huge canvases made only of symbols.

Operating systems have also contributed to the popularization of ASCII 
Art. In the world of Unix and Linux, ASCII graphics were used for 
terminal splash screens and program logos like neofetch. Even older 
versions of Windows included examples of ASCII art hidden in the 
command line.

I can’t help but mention one interesting and popular genre: ASCII 
comics.
ASCII comics are a unique genre in which stories are conveyed 
exclusively using text symbols. They appeared in the early years of the 
Internet, when graphic capabilities were limited, but users still 
wanted to share stories and visual art. Such comics were often 
published in e-mail newsletters, on forums, and in .txt files 
circulating among computer enthusiasts.

One of the most famous ASCII comics is "Dinosaur Comics" by Canadian 
author Ryan North. Although the original illustrations were created in 
regular graphics, enthusiasts transferred them to ASCII, making them 
accessible even in text environments. This showed that ASCII can be not 
only a means of decoration, but also a full-fledged tool for 
storytelling.

Another example is the classic "NetHack Guidebook" and related ASCII 
comics illustrating funny and deadly moments in text roguelike games. 
Players used standard game symbols to create scenes with characters, 
monsters, and traps, adding comments in comic style.

Many ASCII comics were released in ANSI art format and distributed on 
BBS networks. Some of them were dedicated to cyberpunk themes, mocked 
corporate culture, or simply depicted everyday funny situations. They 
became a kind of digital graffiti, reflecting the mood of the hacker 
community.

In IRC chats, ASCII comics were often used for comedy mini-scenes. 
Users created characters from standard characters and acted out short 
stories in real time, using IRC command lines to simulate movement and 
interaction.

Today, ASCII comics are experiencing a renaissance in small online 
communities specializing in retro culture and low-tech art. They can be 
found on Gopher networks, on forums dedicated to old computers, and 
among programmers who like to joke about their coding adventures with 
the help of minimalist text scenes.



                       ... ..
                     ......
                  ... ...   .
                ........ ..
               ... . ....         __________________
              ...                //////////\\\\\\\\\\
              ___               ///////////\\\\\\\\\\\
             /| |\             // |   _________   |  \\
            //   \\               #  /####|####\  |
            |     |               #  |####|####|  |
            \\   //               #  |----+----|  |
         ____||_|}______{}________/  |####|####|  |
        /______________________      |####|####|  |
       /______________________/      |---------|  |
      ()_____________________/       |       J | ||
       \_____________________\       |         | |/
      /X\_____________________\  ___ |    &&&& | |
     /   --       \_____________/    \__&&    && |
    /   -- &&&       &&&       &&&      &      & |
  // ---  &  @=========@=========@===* &   00   &/==={;)
 / -- ___&  0  &___&  0  &___&  0  &/___&      &
/--       &   &     &   &     &   & *===== @  &&
           &&&       &&&       &&&        &&&&

CHWOOO-CHWOOOOOOO!!!!!!

But most importantly, ASCII Art remains a reminder that art can exist 
even in the most unexpected forms. When you only have text at hand, but 
you want to draw, you can always make a portrait, an anarchic slogan, 
or at least a sad smiley from letters. And this is art that will never 
become outdated.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Turboblack is the pseudonym of a 42-year-old Ukrainian named Dan. He 
speaks English, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, PHP, JavaScript, HTML, and 
CSS. He enjoys lots of reading, writing, coding, helping people build 
their websites, drawing templates, and cooking delicious things. As a 
fan of the retro internet, Turboblack runs the Elpis zine 
(https://elpis.ws/), Web 1.0 Hosting (https://web1.0hosting.net/), and 
HamsterCMS (https://old.net.eu.org/).

source:
https://www.goodinternetmagazine.com/ascii-art-is-an-art-born-from-limitations/

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Internetado