A Call for Resurrection
by Halaster

	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 oviously necessary ingredients for a thriving ansi scene are consistant,
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 adress 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 existance 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 find ourselves in today.  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 homogenious 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 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 solution to the form's current death-row crisis.  The Electronic
Bulletin Board must be revived.
	As of January 30th, 1998 and for the forseeable future, The Regency,
one of the world's formost art boards, will be back on-line.  For now, at
least, the board will only be accessable 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 accessable by
sysops accross 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.
	
* 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!  

