A Call for Resurrection
By Halaster (Fire)
 
 
Today, many of the scene's citizens lament over the perceived decline of the computer art world.  There have been several theories, explanations, articles and manifestos published over the past few months in response to this issue.  One thing is certain many of the members of the art community are dissatisfied with its present productivity and character.  The ever-present, old-school mantra "it was better in the old days" has never been so commonly used, and has never been taken so seriously.  Once well-established art groups struggle to release monthly packs or die off completely.  Artists, particularly ANSI artists, toss down their 'pens' in frustration daily, further thinning the pool of talent that group leaders need to draw from to keep their organizations viable.  This trend must be reversed, and the entire scene will need to contribute its part in order to reverse it.  While it is impossible to return to years past, while we cannot reverse the clock and travel back to the days when artists like Lord Jazz and Iodine produced astounding works in the ansi medium concurrently with contemporary hi-resolution visionaries like CatBones and RedMaN, certain aspects and traditions of the 'golden-age' scene can and must be resurrected to improve our current time.

As artists like Bedlam and Maestro have asserted, the most important and obviously necessary ingredients for a thriving art scene are consistent, talented and productive artists.  While the hi-resolution art arena has grown exponentially in the past few months, the ANSI art medium has suffered a corresponding decline.  As an ANSI artist, I will address this specific component of the larger art scene 'crisis' in this article. Returning once more to Bedlam's writings, one finds an emphasis on the importance of REQUESTS in the art scene relationship to the artist.  Quite simply, artists like to feel like their work serves some purpose - be it monetary, decorative or thematic.  Few artists like to draw solely for their own eyes, regardless of the motivations behind their creations even an artist who refuses to accept payment for his or her work still needs an audience.  At the most fundamental level, a patron, or a person who requests work, serves as this audience.  Speaking from personal experience, it is a wonderful feeling to know that a sysop or site maintainer appreciates the work that you have done.  The lack of this sort of positive reinforcement can be seen as the possible cause for the eventual floundering of many of the scene's "art for art's sake" projects (such as those begun by artists like Nootropic and Eerie.)  But I begin to digress .. to focus once more, REQUESTS are crucial to the continued existence of the art scene.  One source of these requests, especially for ANSI artists, is the all-but-extinct Electronic Bulletin Board, or BBS. The Electronic Bulletin Board, the primordial birthing place of the underground computer art scene .. The BBS, the training grounds for hoards of the scene's most legendary ANSI artists .. The BBS world used to serve as the body of the art scene, just as the internet does today.

However, differences in the technological (biological) makeup of these two body types have led, in part, to the unsatisfactory state that we now find ourselves in.  BBS systems embodied much of what used to define and characterize the art scene.  The BBS was exclusive, secretive and intimate.  While many people view elitism as a negative thing (and rightly so), the benefits for the artist of a more intimate, personal mode of communication cannot be ignored.  In days of yore, artists would exhibit unfinished ANSI works on message bases looking for advice or feedback, also serving to inspire other would-be and established creators.  Artists like Logan of TRiBE even created apprenticeship programs to train new ANSI artists.  I myself was taught many of the basics of ANSI art by Donut Hole, sysop of The Flying Donuts.  Furthermore, BBSes were molded and controlled by their sysops, shaped into interactive experiences that reflected much of the sysop's aesthetics, values and visions.  The Regency reflects much of my character through it's somewhat subdued and precise setup.  Callers to The Heretic Asylum could not help but be impressed by the board's Jello-green setup, created by a myriad of artists but unified by the sysop's over-riding vision.   The comparably homogeneous mediums that we use to communicate today (the World Wide Web, IRC, E-Mail) lack this individualistic character.  While it can be argued that the medium of the WWW is more flexible than that of the BBS, it is an undeniable fact that 90% of the web pages currently published operate under the same design paradigm, presenting the user with a simple, categorized, point-and-click interface.  While BBSes also operated under a standard, three-fold paradigm consisting of the Main, Message and Transfer areas, many systems also had door games, art galleries or real-time chat. Regardless of the features present, a well-crafted Electronic Bulletin Board, in my opinion, always had more character and was always more inspiring than a web page.  BBS users were immersed in a sysop-controlled world of darkness, punctuated and choreographed by carefully designed graphics and bursts of information.  The World Wide Web browser, as an interface, constantly reminds the user that he or she is _viewing_ something, as opposed to being immersed in it, through the ever-present scroll bars, 404-errors and Netscape logo.

Regardless of aesthetic, subjective considerations, one cannot argue the fact that the BBS has, inherently, a much greater need for ANSI art than does a web page.  As an ANSI artist interested in the survival of the medium, I only see one escape from the form's current death-row crisis.  The Electronic Bulletin Board must be revived. As of January 30th, 1998 and for the foreseeable future, The Regency, one of the world's foremost art boards, will be back on-line.*  For now, at least, the board will only be accessible through old-school dialup access.** My mission will be to capture or create, if necessary, a demand for this admittedly antiquated form of communication.  Over the next few months, I will be organizing an old-style crashmail network, to be called (aptly enough) RegencyNET.  The Regency's one famous local message bases will be accessible by sysops across the country for a few cents in long distance dialing charges.*** 

This is my manifesto  A call to all former art sysops.  BRING BACK YOUR BOARDS!  Together, we can revitalize the old, local pockets of artistic talent that led to this scene, that maintain this scene and whose current absence is leading to the decline of the ANSI medium (and possibly to the art scene as a whole.)  Modems need ANSI.  Bulletin Boards need ANSI.  The art scene needs ANSI.

Draw.
Spread the word.
Call The Regency.
Halaster (halaster+@cmu.edu)

Former president of Fire Productions,
Former ACiD/Relic member, Fire ANSI artist,
First and foremost Sysop.

* The Regency _IS_ up @ 412-687-3066

** Please note that after 7PM, long distance calling under MCI and AT&T is offered at 10 cents per minute, making an hour of calls only six dollars. A paltry sum of twenty cents per day when spread over a month!  Other cost-saving solutions, like off-line mail readers (OLR's) are also available! 

*** RegencyNET has actually been scrapped in favor of a message network dedicated to supporting the BBS revival organization, Resurrection, that The 4th Disciple, Gunthar and myself have begun.  Stay tuned for details about this group and it's goals, or contact me at halaster+@cmu.edu for more information.  Get involved!