One day, evil_e and i started chatting about what it would take for the scene to thrive again. We came upon the conclusion that it would take a scene-wide revolution in the direction of the future, not wallowing in nostalgia like the majority of you people do. Check it out...

<Evil_E> who are you doing art for these days?
<bedlam> technically i'm still an acid member
<Evil_E> I haven't talked to you since mOp days
<bedlam> though 99% of my art is web- or music-related
<Evil_E> dood...you like the way the scene is now compared to the way it was?
<bedlam> the ansi scene?
<Evil_E> yeah
<bedlam> well, i'm not in the scene really anymore so i can't say.. but if i were to venture a guess, i'd have to say "what ansi scene"
<Evil_E> yeah...seriously....It used to be pretty cool...I do nothing at work all day so I go on irc..and these ppl are like brain dead or something
<Evil_E> weak scene compared to the way it was
<bedlam> basically
<bedlam> only reason i hang around is cuz i know people
<bedlam> if i had other channels where i knew people and could talk about stuff, i woudln't come in #ansi
<Evil_E> yeah...same here...I know the old ppl....don't know most the new names
<Evil_E> hahah true...same here...but, that is the only place I went in the day
<Evil_E> The only reason me and Bay restarted DVS is to maybe get some kinda interest going.
<bedlam> won't work
<bedlam> for one simple reason
<bedlam> not enough new blood
<bedlam> the scene is on it's way out
<bedlam> so unless a whole lot of like minded people can get some interest going
<bedlam> in the REAL world, not just in the scene
<bedlam> it's done
<Evil_E> yeah...I wanna restart that...try
<bedlam> i mean, i dont see ANSI as being interesting to anyone else
<bedlam> it doesn't even have potential
<bedlam> only those who still BBS frequently would find it interesting
<bedlam> and there are so few of those people now
<bedlam> people gotta realize that you can't hold on to ansi for nostalgia and expect it to thrive any more than you can expect to holdon to a girlfriend you should have broken up with long ago, and expect the relationship to work
<bedlam> of course that analogy is probably lost on most doodleboys =)
<Evil_E> yeah...even the vga part and ascii and shit
<bedlam> yeah
<bedlam> i mena
<bedlam> mean
<bedlam> vga has its place
<bedlam> on the web, everybody knows that
<Evil_E> well, ansi is useless I see that....I mean the scene all in itself...
<bedlam> ascii may even have a little niche somewhere, more than ansi does
<Evil_E> remember all the groups..all that type of shit
<Evil_E> ansi is too tedious to do
<bedlam> all the groups came out of a large portion of people being interested in ansi art
<bedlam> since ansi is only useful on BBS systems, as BBS's fade, so does ansi
<bedlam> scenesters can't make ansi any more popular in the mainstream without making BBS's popular first
<bedlam> i think too many people say ansi is good as an artform
<bedlam> but wonder why nobody new comes into it
<Evil_E> true....what about telnet boards
<Evil_E> there are new ppl in the scene ...but it seems they are clueless
<bedlam> what about them? how many non-scene-related boards exist?
<Evil_E> ansi is dead...there is no use for them anymore I see that
<Evil_E> not many
<bedlam> BBS's aren't kept up for the sake of BBSing, they're kept up for the sake of justifying ansi art
<bedlam> i dont know of any telnet boards out there that aren't scene related
<bedlam> the ansi scene thrived when there were BBS's out there that had nothing to do with ansi, but needed art to make them look cool
<bedlam> warez boards, pd, whatever
<Evil_E> pd boards were the shit
<Evil_E> =)
<bedlam> BBSs were used almost exclusively for conversation and file transfer
<bedlam> with the internet, those functions are dominated
<bedlam> why would you telnet to a board to get a file when you can easily get it from an ftp or irc channel?
<bedlam> why converse on a bbs when you have irc and newsgroups?
<bedlam> and web pages for both of those too
<bedlam> the only remaining reason for boards now is for ANSI to have a justified place to be
<Evil_E> yeah...I'm not denying that fact....I'm just saying the scene as a whole the way it was...with confs...and all that shit...
<bedlam> yeah, but there's very few cool people in the scene anymore
<bedlam> there was always a transition
<bedlam> there were new people and old people
<bedlam> as the old people lost interest, new people came, and those who were new got better and became oldschool =)
<bedlam> generations of artists came and went
<bedlam> now it's mostly people living in nostalgia
<bedlam> few new people
<bedlam> and when new people do come, the rest of us just rip on them and call them lame and don't help them at all
<Evil_E> no shit....it's always ben like that
<bedlam> yeah but at least before there were enough dorks out there to become friends with if you sucked
<Evil_E> yeah...there is no room for dorks no more
<bedlam> and those groups of lamers grew together, eventually to become great
<bedlam> exactly. there's so few, and any bad group would get killed immidiately
<Evil_E> yeah...remember the bad groups that released like multiple packs and shit
<bedlam> the point is, even though many of us do vga, we're still seeing it as a bbs-related ansi scene
<Evil_E> that is what I want again tho...
<bedlam> i mean, acid doesn't do ansi, but i dont see them get much world-recognition
<bedlam> we're still stuck with the warez and demo and hacking guys
<bedlam> all in our own litte scene's
<bedlam> the art scene has to BLOW UP and get out in the real world
<bedlam> but as it is, i dont think anyone has the vision, and few have the true talent
<bedlam> so many of us have our own endeavors
<bedlam> i mean the scene used to run like this...
<bedlam> people had baords
<bedlam> they would request art from those boards
<Evil_E> welp, It just seems like ppl grow up
<bedlam> artists would do art, and the baords would get it
<bedlam> replace boards with web pages now
<bedlam> that's how it should be
<bedlam> i mean
<Evil_E> well, no it can be for web pages...and what have you
<bedlam> it wasn't originally art guys requesting art from other artists
<bedlam> it was warez and hacking guys
<Evil_E> it was warez
<bedlam> and pd guys
<bedlam> anyone who ran a board could ask for art from the art scene
<bedlam> once again, let's modify that to be web pages
<Evil_E> I know...now it's just web.....but, more ppl have web pages then ppl had bbs's
<bedlam> anyone who runs a web page should ask for art from the art scene
<bedlam> FREE art
<bedlam> yeah
<bedlam> so WHY is acid and ice and these groups not known to the general public as a good source of good, free art
<bedlam> just like we used to be
<bedlam> a) we all want to be paid for it
<bedlam> b) nobody knows about us cuz we're stuck in our dying scene
<bedlam> c) a + b
<bedlam> anyone from out of the scene who requests will be met with "pay me"
<bedlam> that's what a business is for
<bedlam> acid and ice are not businesses
<Evil_E> well, if it's like that then why not just make ice or acid a business and make something from it
<bedlam> exactly
<Evil_E> it's pointless
<bedlam> but nobody wants that it seems
<bedlam> i've brought it up
<bedlam> everyone's got their own businesses
<Evil_E> true
<bedlam> i've brought it up multiple times and they always say "i have a business already, i just do this for fun"
<Evil_E> I got one....it's easy money for any of us who know how to work it
<Evil_E> I'd like to go back to the old way tho
<bedlam> too bad =)
<bedlam> can't go home again
<bedlam> the BBS era is over
<Evil_E> I loved runnin my board
<Evil_E> that shit was awesome
<bedlam> without BBS's thriving in every part of the online community, and not just the ansi scene, it will be lame
<bedlam> boards are hella fun
<bedlam> but for the scene to thrive off them, they have to NOT just be ansi-related
<Evil_E> I remember rackin fuckin hundred dollar phone bills
<bedlam> people who have no interest in ansi need ot have boards
<bedlam> and those people make web pages
<bedlam> fact of the matter is, unless we become to web pages what we once were to BBS's, the whole scene will die
<bedlam> i think i've got a whole article in here for some miscellaneous zine that people in general read.
<Evil_E> well, that is what I am looking towards
<Evil_E> that is why everyone in dvs is vga
<bedlam> but we gotta ADVERTISE
<Evil_E> I remember when vga groups were worthless to most ppl
<bedlam> to the general populace
<Evil_E> yeah...defintely
<bedlam> on yahoo
<bedlam> pages such as that
<Evil_E> It's not hard to get werd around
<bedlam> if we'd just try.
<Evil_E> I am willing to try and make something work
<bedlam> and the scene has to be WILLING to do and release such things as logos
<bedlam> for free
<bedlam> i mean usually vga logos are boring
<Evil_E> but, I mean 6 ppl that I have isn't gonna do it..I see tha
<bedlam> but if you were to do a nice little set of logos, with pictures and such
<bedlam> and release them as a vga
<bedlam> people used to do like, generic menu sets. why not do that for web pages? find like all the most popular topics a web page would have, and do up a generic web page vga template
<bedlam> but in general, i think there's no way to save the scene at all
<Evil_E> yeah....that is logical
<bedlam> it's dying and will soon be gone completely
<Evil_E> you just came up with a way
<Evil_E> you just need to find support
<Evil_E> I know there are ppl that would be interested
<bedlam> yeah but it takes participation from the WHOLE SCENE to realize what is necessary and to take part
<bedlam> a scene-wide revolution
<bedlam> i sure as hell don't have the time to do that.
<Evil_E> if there was enough interest...the people that have no interest would become interested
<bedlam> =)
<Evil_E> nor do we akk
<Evil_E> all
<bedlam> i think this conversation needs to be captured and sent to every major group leader, to send out to each group member
<bedlam> a call to arms
<Evil_E> but, like I said....if a number of ppl are dedicated to saving it from dying...then it would make others want to help
<bedlam> a "let's get this scene back on track, in the new era of online artwork"
<bedlam> ansi is dead, let's put it to rest.
<bedlam> i mean
<bedlam> are we trying to save the scene, or ansi?
<Evil_E> true...the word must be sent out
<Evil_E> scene
<bedlam> because they are two very different things which require two very different forms of action
<bedlam> to save ansi is to first revive BBS's internationally.. good luck.
<Evil_E> I have nothing against ansi...if someone continues to do it...fine....but, I just want the scene
<bedlam> to save the scene is to allow the current trends of the online community dictate what we have to do, and not try to dictate it to ourselves.
<Evil_E> but we need support from others in order to do this
<bedlam> i mean, i'm sure there would be some people who would think an ansi2vga logo (done in ansi, converted to vga, and used on a web page) would be a pretty cool "stone-age" kind of graphic style
<bedlam> kind of like those people who do the green on black LCD display kind of graphics
<bedlam> you can do so much more now, but it's got an "oldschool" computer look to it
<bedlam> so ansi wouldn't be completely dead, i'm sure.. it could be a style that people would still enjoy.. but they'd have to be drawn in ansi and converted to VGA for web use
<Evil_E> oldschool is better then no school
<Evil_E> would you be willing to revive "the scene"? Or willing to gain interest and spread the word?
<bedlam> heh, i could probably help manage things a bit.. maybe Radman will make me senior staff of acid or something
<bedlam> THEN i'll get my acid alumni status when i quit the scene
<bedlam> "bedlam: the man who saved the scene"
<bedlam> hehehe
<Evil_E> hahah
<Evil_E> I'd seriously want to do something
<bedlam> i've proven before that i can run a group
<bedlam> the fact of the matter is, we have to make this a scene-wide revolution
<bedlam> it can't be one group
<bedlam> or even a couple groups
<bedlam> the scene as a whole has to recognize the situation and act accordingly
<Evil_E> yeah....I'm thinking of something like a scene wide art type thing
<Evil_E> Dood we should write something steming from this conversation..
<bedlam> what write? we've already said everything that needs to be said.

The answer is clear. In every way people used to think of BBS's, we now have to put web pages in their place. it used to seem that everybody and their dog had a BBS, now everybody and their dog have a web page (no exaggeration, unfortunately). The art scene was originally some artist- types living in a warez/pd/hacking world who decided to come together in a common goal: make BBS land a prettier place to live. At some point more groups became involved, and the competition made the original goal thrive and take shape. Somewhere along the line, though, competition became the only reason to be in the scene. Around that time, the internet became more popular and BBS's began to die away. We now live in an online society in which the only BBS's out there are kept up simply to let ansi have a purpose. The situation has changed, my friends, and we must change with it. But while we change, we must also look at the original goal.. make our online forum a prettier place to be. Our online forum has changed, but I believe the goal still holds true. This is just the first step of realization, much more must be done if our scene is to thrive again.

Give this to everyone you know that is, was, wants to be, or deserves to be in the art scene. Discussions in #ansi should take shape from this file, logged, and passed around. We have made a goal clear. We must act. The time for repentance is near! Only those groups who adapt will survive. Even the almighty ACiD and iCE will be forced to change, as they have already, or die with the rest. Amen.

Bedlam [ACiD]
bedlam@enteract.com