Abstract
“Text” and “textile” share the same Latin root—textus, or “woven.” In the 1960s and 1970s a digital form of amateur text-based art known as “ASCII (pronounced AS-kee) art” began to flourish—images created with letters and other typographic symbols on the computer keyboard. Since the advent of Windows 95, participants in certain “channels” (chatrooms) on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) have developed a brilliantly colored form of text-based art, an elaboration of ASCII art. This art contains much play with ornament, pattern, and symmetry, and may be either abstract or figurative. In a highly ritualized mode of playful communication, images are displayed on the screen in real time to greet other participants. Thus, images are both “art” and “communication.” Despite its intangibility, this art has many affinities with traditional weaving, embroidery and especially quilting. It is a form of “quilting in time” rather than space. Figurative images also partially resemble paper greeting cards. This article focuses on an IRC group called “rainbow,” that has communicated mainly via images since May 1997. The analysis draws on a database of some 5,000 images. Seven distinctive features of this art are discussed.
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