Untitled
by Pariah (As appeared in Tyrone #03)

I had to write a 6 page essay on the individual and the team effort, and it got me thinking.. If you take a look at the scene, specifically the ascii scene practically everyone who's good is in at least 2 groups. In some cases it might be because they support the cause of both groups, but in most cases it's becausethey want to get their art to as many people as they can (I should know, I do this). This might not be the case if the ascii scene, like the ansi scene, had several quality groups instead of 3 or 4. Take me for example..

I officially got in the "scene" in the summer of 96 when I joined rune, plain, blade and cia. In the fall of 96 I joined s0ap, left for acid!a, dualed with noname (to releasemy colored asciis) and then left acid!a In the winter of 96 I joined eclipse and went solo with the group for about 3 months.

In the beginning of 97 I was in noname, joined rile, was in eclipse2(after cheeze left), created fat972 with firestorm and haji(it lasted about a week), became fire!a coordinator and went solo with fire for 2 months, and joined odelay.

In the summer of 97 I left noname, left rile, left odelay(well, it died) and joined remorse I went solo with remorse for about 2 months too, then I became a permanent guest in kwest, and re-joined odelay after neil revived it.

Well, currently I'm only officially "in" 2 groups, which is better than when I was in 4-5 ;) but that's not the point. Each time I joined another group while I was already in one it was because I thought that other group could offerme omething that I didn't get from the first group.. be it a fun enviroment, laid back attitude, more respect from other asciists, etc.. For example, currently I'm in remorse(a close group of people that is as stable as it gets and arguably the best) and odelay(a more laid back group of quality artists fullof new and old talent). Both of these groups give me everything I need, with remorse there's the seriousness of competing and with odelay there's the fun laid back (almost eclipse-ish) attitude. Does being in 2 groups rip apart the idea of competition in the ascii scene? I don't think so..

Compare the ascii scene to the ansi scene, the ansi scene has ice, fire, echo, twilight, glue, everglo, dark, and awe(to name a few). The ascii scene has remorse, odelay, and kwest(I'm only naming serious groups that have been around more than 2 months). With only 3 groups in one scene it's only natural that talented artistsare going to want to be part of all of them. The answer to this problem lies not in going solo with one group against your will and missing out on what the other groups have to offer but in creating more stable/fun groups. If the ascii scene had 10-15 groups like the ansi scene dualing/tri-grouping would be less of a problem, there would be one group that fits what each artists wants, be it a laid back attitude, a serious attitude, or a humorous approach to everything. The 'fuck you my group's better than yours' attitude has it's disadvantages, the scene "friends" you associate with would be controlled by what group you're in and #ascii would become more of a war ground than a place to talk about the latest releases and the such.. Lately everyone seems to be focusing more on two things that I'm not a big fan of:

1. "You're all shitfaces, my group is better than yours!@#" This is just stupid, I'd rather see unity in the ascii scene than everyone seperated by the group(s) they're affiliated with.

2. Everyone's criticizing each other already.. people are using personal conflicts they have with certain artists/group leaders as an excuse to criticize other peoples art. If you don't like someone, fine, you probably have a good reason, but criticizing their art is just pathetic. Anyone who has run a group successfully has accomplished something that deserves the respect of everyone.

Basically all I'm saying is that people should stop complaining, things are only as bad as you percieve them and by saying "the ascii scene is dead" all you do is turn away more people from drawing ascii/starting what could be a good group/etc..