S U A N C I R V O E

Martina munì R C S U I O T R À E C A T T O L I C

MAKING ART WITH A

D E L

A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF ASCII ART What is ASCII art?

ASCII art is the most universal art form in the world.

ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange and it is a basic set of 128 numbered symbols which almost all computers can display.

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RESEARCH - Can art be made by machines? QUESTIONS - Hobby or job? - Can we find ASCII art in museums/galleries? - Purpose? - How to learn? - Why ASCII art? - Is it dying? - Can you distinguish between true and false? - How to sell it? martina munì

LITERATURE ANALYSIS The debate the path QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS 13 Semi-structured interviews

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS Online survey for ASCII art community martina munì

ITALY VS ABROAD THE ECONOMY More digital art abroad. ASCII art is a hobby. Reasons are unclear. Main findings TRUE AND FALSE MUSEUMS Almost everyone can Very hard to find ASCII art distinguish between hand- in museums. It's mostly drawn ASCII and software- online, besides some cases. generated ASCII. martina munì

HOW TO SELL ASCII THE AUDIENCE ART The majority of survey Digital art is more respondents is male and has saleable. With ASCII art a degree. ASCII art is not it's harder. so easy to appreciate. Main findings A SLOW DEATH Many ASCII art websites LEARNING BY DOING are dead. Many acclaimed No schools or academies artists do not create that teach ASCII art. You ASCII pictures anymore. learn it on your own and Main reason is ageing, looking at tutorials. along with the development of technology. art and machines purpose ASCII art is made by people. ASCII art was born because The machine is the tool. computers could not process ASCII art can reveal what's images. Very famous to create happening inside the machine. porn. martina munì

WHY The reason why people still do ASCII art is not clear. Is it nostalgia?

ART OR CRAFT the Many respondents claim that the beauty of ASCII art is in the limited medium. questions However, some artists use it to convey a profound meaning. with no answer COPYRIGHT How to avoid unauthorised uses of ASCII artworks? the future of art

FIRST OPTION It will become history, like art. We will not be able to create ASCII art because our computers have evolved too much.

SECOND OPTION It will evolve and will find new applications. An ASCII app for could make it appealing to young people. martina munì

New knowledge to encourage possible the applications contribution of this Gathering and thesis interpretation of data

New possibility for the future t h a n

martina munì k

y o u ! Technology is nothing. What's important is that you have a faith in people, that they're basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they'll do wonderful things with them.

STEVE JOBS