Summary

In my thesis, I study Amiga ASCII text art. Amiga ASCII is a form of text art where the composition of letter characters set in the Amiga computer’s font forms a two-dimensional representation or image. The Amiga scene is a subculture of computer enthusiasts that was popular in the 1990s. At its core are the logos and other visual materials created for BBS systems and the competitive rivalry among artists who create text art over their image-making prowess.

I delve into the creation of Amiga ASCII art and use it as a method to develop my visual expression. I define text art as one style of visual art, which includes ASCII art and its sub-genres, and I briefly describe the history of text art and ASCII art and the subculture associated with it. In my thesis, I focus especially on Amiga ASCII text art and create a collection of images from my experiments with this image-making method.

Keywords: text art, computer, subculture, illustration, ASCII, Amiga.

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Research section
… 2.1. Source materials and research data
… 2.2. About text art
… … 2.2.1. Definition of text art
… … 2.2.2. History of text art
… 2.3. The age of ASCII art
… … 2.3.1. History of home computers
… … 2.3.2. What is ASCII art?
… … 2.3.3. What is Amiga ASCII art?
… … 2.3.4. The golden age of Amiga ASCII
… … 2.3.5. ASCII art to decorate BBS boards
… … 2.3.6. What is a colly?

Production part
… 3.1. My starting point for creating ASCII art
… … 3.1.1. Finding the right method
… 3.2. Production process
… … 3.2.1. Description of creating Amiga ASCII images
… … 3.2.2. Making the colly
… … 3.2.3. Physical final product

Concluding remarks

Sources
… 5.1. Printed sources
… 5.2. Unprinted sources
… … 5.2.1 Internet sources
… … 5.2.2. Documentaries
… … 5.2.3. Interviews
… 5.3. Image sources

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Colon, hyphen, and parenthesis are typographic punctuation marks used in written language that serve as separators for various text structures. By combining these three symbols in sequence, you get :-). When you tilt this combination ninety degrees clockwise in your mind, it can be interpreted as a smiling face, an emoticon, with eyes, nose, and mouth. Originally, these symbols were created for the structures of written language, but in daily human communication, these symbols and their combinations have been given a new added meaning and purpose. Images created with letter characters enhance the expressiveness of text-based presentations, such as emails or text messages.

In text-based communication, the representation of images has not always been possible for technical reasons. To address this need, text art emerged, a technique of creating images where a picture or word is formed from drawn or printed symbols in a composition. An emoticon is a kind of simple image formed with letter characters. However, by combining various letter characters spread over several lines, it’s possible to create much more nuanced images that can depict almost any subject. This image-making technique has been a part of the history of writing up to the present day. I will discuss this matter in more detail in section 2.2.2.

Text art made on a computer is usually called ASCII art. The name derives from the character standard developed in the 1960s. ASCII art flourished in the 1980s and 1990s, before the internet, when text-based BBS systems operating on telephone networks served as the primary places for thought and information exchange, much like the internet. The making of ASCII art waned as the internet displaced BBS systems with the advent of fast broadband connections around the year 2000. However, ASCII art has surged in recent years due to nostalgia, social media, and the archiving of ASCII art.

In my thesis, I delve into this image-making technique and use it as a method to develop my visual expression. In the research sections, I define text art as one genre of visual art, encompassing ASCII art and its sub-genres, and briefly describe the history of text art and ASCII art and the associated subculture. I focus especially on the Amiga-style ASCII text art in my thesis and create a collection of my experiments using this image-making method. I elaborate on the aforementioned concepts in section 2.3.

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2.1. SOURCE MATERIALS AND RESEARCH DATA

Historically, the typewriter as a medium of creative expression has largely been overlooked, perhaps because those who created typewriter art were primarily professional typists who demonstrated their skills mainly to peers in the same field. Many early typewriter artists were likely unaware of the historical background and significance of their art, leading to a lack of its widespread recognition and acceptance by critics. Those who were interested in the typewriter as a medium for text art were mainly intrigued by it from the perspective of concrete poetry, rather than viewing it from a visual art perspective. This has resulted in a lack of complete understanding of the entire field of text art. Only now, due to the archiving capabilities of the Internet and the exposure of text art, is a more comprehensive picture emerging.

This same trend seems to be occurring with ASCII text art, leading to a perceived lack of quality source material on text art or ASCII art. Two anthologies have been written on typewriter art: Alan Riddell’s Typewriter Art (1975) and Barrie Tullett’s Typewriter Art: A Modern Anthology (2014). Only one significant retrospective has been held on typewriter art (London and Edinburgh 1973, 1974). Not a single extensive publication or study has been written on ASCII art, and only one small exhibition was held in Cologne in 2013 as part of an electronic art festival. The subject has been briefly touched upon in a few studies dealing with computer enthusiast subcultures, such as the 2011 study Like City Lights, Receding: ANSi Artwork and the Digital Underground, 1985-2000 by Canadian Michael Hargadon. Most studies focus on computer enthusiast subcultures and related phenomena mainly from a technical, sociological, or historical perspective.

For my research, I interviewed two individuals who are still actively involved in the Amiga ASCII scene. I interviewed Amiga ASCII pioneer, German Michael “Skin” Hischer, via email. Additionally, I interviewed Finnish Amiga ASCII artist Antti “h7” Kiuru. The interviews mainly focused on questions about the process of creating ASCII art, their style, sources of inspiration, and personal history. I also posed a few general questions in the Facebook group “Ansi, Ascii artists worldwide!” which includes a large portion of individuals involved in the subculture.

As written sources, I utilized several studies dealing with computer enthusiast subcultures and related phenomena, numerous internet sources, and Barrie Tullett’s work on typewriter art, Typewriter Art: A Modern Anthology. From these pieces, I believe I was able to create a comprehensive yet source-critical understanding and description of the subject matter under investigation.

2.2. ABOUT TEXT ART

2.2.1. DEFINITION OF TEXT ART

While working on this thesis, there didn’t seem to be a definition of text art available anywhere. This is probably due to the almost complete absence of both Finnish and English literature or research on text art. Just the fact that the English Wikipedia article for “text art” redirects to a vague and sparse article on ASCII art indicates the scarcity of research and that the history of text art has not been fully understood internationally. However, to address my research topic, I need to define text art in some way.

When I started to develop a definition of text art, the difference in the use of a letter character in written language and in text art seemed to be a defining factor. What is the significance of a letter in text art? What’s the difference between a letter character in written language and in text art?

Text is a semantic unit. In text, the form isn’t as important as the meaning given by the forms. Written text consists of graphemes, i.e., written characters. Grapheme refers to letters, that is, characters used in a phonetic writing system, and other writable characters such as numbers and punctuation marks. In written language, text and letters contain meanings; they are a tool for communication.

In the context of text art, a character is considered solely through its form. In text art, a letter is not symbolic and does not have semantic meaning, but the composition of letter characters creates an image, which in itself can symbolize something. The semantic meaning of the image arises from the form given by the composition of the letter characters, that is, what the image resembles, unlike in written language where combinations of letter characters, words, and sentences mean something, carry meaning. Thus, one can think that the word “ball” immediately brings to mind an object made of some material, while in the context of text art, a ball can be symbolized by, for example, the letter O, in which case just the shape of the letter can bring to mind an object made of material.

Text art can therefore be defined as follows: text art is a form of art in which a composition of letter characters forms a two-dimensional representation, that is, an image.

2.2.2. HISTORY OF TEXT ART

Before the invention of typewriters and computers, calligram was the most common form of text art. A calligram is a poem, phrase, or word in which the text or words are arranged so that they collectively form a picture. The picture formed in the calligram is usually visually related to the words or word used in it and expresses the theme of the poem. One of the first calligrams is Axe by Simmias of Rhodes, made in 325 BC, where the text forms an image of an axe (Figure 2). A Jewish tradition of micro-calligraphy also resembles calligrams, where small written Hebrew letters form geometric and abstract images.

Arabic calligraphy can also be considered a form of text art. Drawing humans is seen in Islam as idol worship, so picyutrd were drawn using calligraphy, that is, text. In Islamic culture, calligraphy is considered the noblest form of visual art, as it translates the words of God as revealed in the Qur’an into a visible form. Qur’anic manuscripts have always been commissioned from the most skilled calligraphers to give the text an artistic appearance worthy of its value .

Movable type and printing press developed in the 1400s made duplicating knowledge fast and, above all, cheap. The printing technique made it possible to shape people’s perceptions of themselves and the surrounding world. The great revolution of printing in Europe was the invention of movable type, which meant that the same type could be used over and over again to produce many different printed products. Movable types significantly accelerated page production compared to engraving each page separately on wood or metal plates, so movable types were also used to create typographic ornaments and pictures .

Just as the printing press once did, the typewriter revolutionized the world. By the end of the 1800s, it had established its position not only in the industrial and commercial sectors but also in the cultural and social fields. Typewriter created new professions and livelihoods and was also a crucial step towards women’s emancipation. It also gave people the means to communicate freely without fear of censorship and enabled writers to write as quickly as they thought. The typewriter brought a modern way of directly presenting and disseminating thoughts. It also became a tool for making art.

One of the first surviving images made with a typewriter is a picture of a butterfly made by Flora Stacey, who worked as a secretary, in 1898 (Figure 3). By re-entering the same paper at different angles and stacking letters, almost any shape could be created, and Stacey’s picture is more reminiscent of pencil drawing than typical mosaic-like text art. On the other hand, a few years earlier, the publication Pitman’s Typewriter Manual (1893) better utilized the limitations and possibilities set by the typewriter and is more reminiscent of modern ASCII art than Stacey’s butterfly (Figure 4).

However, text art made with a typewriter can be seen to have flourished mainly in the 50s–70s. Around the same time in the 1950s, concrete poetry was born in different parts of the world, where the typewriter was used as a tool to create visual poems with the typographic layout of words being crucial to the impression. In concrete poetry, seeing and reading play an equally significant role. Artists and poets who used this method were interested in how printed words can be interpreted through their presentation and design. They sought ways to create new meanings and conceptual levels for the text by visually composing it.

At the same time, written messages were transmitted over radio links using teletype machines. Using a sound reminiscent of Morse code, the machine could remotely control another similar teletype machine, with messages printed on paper through a printer. What was written on paper at one end was automatically written on paper at the other end. To standardize the character graphics for teletypes, the 5-bit Baudot code was developed, which can be considered a precursor to the ASCII character system. Text art created with teletype machines was exchanged among other radio amateurs, and these works are very reminiscent of future ASCII art (Figure 5).

The development of different forms of text art does not seem to be linear but appears to have occurred independently following each paradigm shift in information technology. They are fascinating examples of how technology has been used as a tool to create works far from what the technology developers could have imagined they would create. The pioneers of text art seem to have been primarily those who were not primarily artistically oriented but were interested in technology and its limitations.

The first step in the emergence of computer-made text art, called ASCII art, occurred with the change in Western consumption paradigm brought about by the microcomputer revolution in the late 1970s. How did this paradigm shift occur, and what followed? What steps led to the birth of ASCII art? I will discuss these issues in the next chapter.

2.3. THE AGE OF ASCII ART

2.3.1. A HISTORY OF HOME COMPUTERS

At its core, computers are intricate calculators, adept at computing mathematical functions swiftly and processing vast amounts of data. Until the late ’70s, these calculations and data processing were performed on large mainframes – the first-generation computers situated in glass-walled computer rooms. These were primarily used as instruments of centralized power within hierarchical organizations to manage large and complex commercial-administrative systems. This gave birth to an industry where IBM played a dominant role. These mainframes were only accessible to entities with significant capital, such as the defense industry, large corporations, and universities. Their operation required expertise in both hardware and software.

By the late ’70s, foundational computer components, transistors, and microprocessors, had been miniaturized enough to allow for the creation of reasonably sized second-generation microcomputers. In essence, microcomputers did not differ from mainframes except in size, price, availability, and complexity.

However, the technology revolution didn’t stem merely from technological achievements, but from the evolution of factories that produced components. As these components were miniaturized, their production costs reduced, and manufacturing energy efficiency and volumes increased. This allowed for mass production of computers. Yet, by the mid-’70s, a typical microcomputer user needed skills like soldering components, constructing keyboards, interfacing devices, and programming both the system and applications. Computers transitioned from computer rooms to design offices and labs, inadvertently giving rise to the hacker culture. A new wave of enterprises emerged in the IT sector, leading innovations and developing consumer-friendly applications and devices.

By the late ’70s, new companies emerged that sold pre-assembled computers. Apple was one of these, with its Apple II in 1977 being the first massively successful mass-produced microcomputer. In a May 1977 article for Byte magazine, Apple’s Steve Wozniak wrote,

“I think a personal computer should be small, reliable, convenient to use, and inexpensive”.

No longer did computer users need to be IT experts or hobbyists, but could simply be the “ordinary consumer”.

The third generation, or personal computers, in the 1980s, transitioned IT from the hands of engineers to a broader user base who began applying it for tasks like word processing and spreadsheet calculations. By the ’80s, the market had been flooded by several small, medium, and large companies offering various solutions. By 1983, however, the market was predominantly dominated by systems from three computer manufacturers: Apple Computer’s Apple II, Commodore International’s Commodore 64 (and later Amiga), and IBM’s PC. Each catered to slightly different consumer bases based on price and technical features. Apple computers were mostly sold to users wanting a mix of games and utility programs, Commodore dominated the gaming market because of its affordability and superior graphics and sound capabilities, and IBM rapidly secured a monopoly in the corporate IT world.

In the 1980s competition, IBM established the dominant standard for personal computers (IBM PC-compatible computers), but lost its exclusive rights to manufacture machines following its standard. By the end of the ’80s, 80% of all sold microcomputers were either IBM-made or at least used its system. However, by the early ’90s, t