Well, it seems a bunch of people have once again gotten the "let's revive the ansi scene" bug. I just spent a few minutes reading an article by Halaster that pretty much just turned out to be a BBS advertisement. That was pretty smooth. I almost didn't guess it until the end.

The ansi scene is dead. Shocker, isn't it? Boards faded away, the art faded away, people faded away, groups faded away. The sad part is that no one really noticed it while it was happening. No one tried to do anything about it when they still had the chance. Now we just sit here, years later, wondering what happened and how we can fix it. Too late, fellahs. You missed your chance to float the sinking ship.

This whole situation is just like any other part of life. Humans just have this tendancy to long for the "good ole days". The past feels safe to us when the future looks unclear. But the past moves further and further away. It's designed that way for a reason. For without what has happened in the past, there can be no change in the future. And change, my friends, is good.

BBSs were fun. Remember conferance calls between a bunch of scene doodleboys, everybody screaming at each other about who rocked more at ansi and lamers toning so no one could hear? Yeah.. good ole days. Remember 800 dialup boards? Calling Harvest Moon because it had a huge collection of art packs and it was FREE!? Yeah.. good ole days. Memories, folks. It's all we have and it's all we ever will have. Until, that is, we create more.

The ansi scene may be dead, but that's bound to happen to any scene. Any group of incredibly diverse people who try to come together under a single tie that binds. People do what they please, people go where they want. People will inevitably do something that someone doesn't like. It's all bound to explode in your face. Quite frankly, I'm amazed that it lasted as long as it did. But the point here is, do we really need a "scene" to keep the art alive? Did you see Pablo Picasso pissed off because the cubist scene died? All his buddies that used to hang out in #cubist left and got a life, so he stopped painting, right? No, didn't think so.

People do art because it's in our nature. Everywhere you look is some form of art. Some people draw, some people sculpt, some people compose music. Art is open to individual perceptions of beauty and style. Art is the product of a single, often demented, mind. Art is usually not a group project. Art does not conform to a scene.

Has anyone stopped to realize how much time we've spent writing articles like this, when we probably could have been cranking out an ansi? At least I have an excuse. I don't really draw. But Halaster? Buddy, you rock and all, but don't you think, instead of typing out a large article advertising your board, that you could have drawn another cerebus ansi or two?

I think my point is, that if anyone expects anything to actually happen, they better stop bitching and actually do something about it. Draw a fucking ansi. Doodle some vga. Write a kick ass module. Whatever it is you do, DO IT. And PUSH it upon the world. Make sure you don't rest until every person on IRC has seen your little work of art. Because the only way to get stuff recognized is to make sure, yourself, that everyone sees it. Don't put it on a web page or a BBS and hope that someone comes along and takes a look.

Which brings me to another disjointed point. Remember when you'd log onto a bbs and immediatly do a newscan to see what new packs came out that day? That was an easy and great way to get new packs. The couriers would toss the packs up onto every popular board with the knowledge that it was bound to get to the widest audience that way. Those days are gone. Don't bitch about no one looking at your art if you haven't given it to them. Putting packs on web pages and ftp archives simply isn't enough these days. It's too much of a hassle. Quite frankly, I don't download new packs unless someone enters #blade and offers it with a standard, easy to use, xdcc offer. And when that happens, I'll download it every time. PUSH YOUR ART, DAMNIT.

Well. I think that's enough ranting for one afternoon. It's been a while since I've had the will to write any form of article like this. I truly think it's time to stop bitching and time to start working toward whatever goal it is you like to bitch about.

- Mindcrime of the ever enigmatic Blade Nation.
mike@exit109.com :: http://www.exit109.com/~mike

Halaster's reply..