PETSCII – A Character Set and a Creative Platform

Markku Reunanen; Tero Heikkinen; Anders Carlsson

PETSCII – A Character Set and a Creative Platform

Markku Reunanen, Tero Heikkinen, Anders Carlsson

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Abstract

PETSCII is the built-in character set used on 8-bit Commodore computers, such as the PET, C-64 and Plus/4. The character set and the BASIC environment provided an entry point to rudimentary graphic editing for a generation of hobbyists. Over the years PETSCII has been used for a variety of creative purposes: for example games, demos, telecommunications, videos, books and fine art have been created using the graphical symbols. Through the analysis of existing art works and our own hands-on project – a graphics editor – we dig deeper into the specific properties of the character set. In this article we show how the fixed symbols set the frame for what is possible and how, on the other hand, they provide grounds for creative experimentation, display of skill and recognizable styles.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	27–47
Number of pages	21
Journal	Replay
Volume	5
Issue number	1
Publication status	Published - 22 Nov 2019
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

text art
digital culture
retrocomputing

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PETSCII – A Character Set and a Creative PlatformFinal published version, 513 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

https://czasopisma.uni.lodz.pl/Replay/article/view/5930Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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N2 - PETSCII is the built-in character set used on 8-bit Commodore computers, such as the PET, C-64 and Plus/4. The character set and the BASIC environment provided an entry point to rudimentary graphic editing for a generation of hobbyists. Over the years PETSCII has been used for a variety of creative purposes: for example games, demos, telecommunications, videos, books and fine art have been created using the graphical symbols. Through the analysis of existing art works and our own hands-on project – a graphics editor – we dig deeper into the specific properties of the character set. In this article we show how the fixed symbols set the frame for what is possible and how, on the other hand, they provide grounds for creative experimentation, display of skill and recognizable styles.

AB - PETSCII is the built-in character set used on 8-bit Commodore computers, such as the PET, C-64 and Plus/4. The character set and the BASIC environment provided an entry point to rudimentary graphic editing for a generation of hobbyists. Over the years PETSCII has been used for a variety of creative purposes: for example games, demos, telecommunications, videos, books and fine art have been created using the graphical symbols. Through the analysis of existing art works and our own hands-on project – a graphics editor – we dig deeper into the specific properties of the character set. In this article we show how the fixed symbols set the frame for what is possible and how, on the other hand, they provide grounds for creative experimentation, display of skill and recognizable styles.

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KW - digital culture

KW - retrocomputing

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JO - Replay

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PETSCII – A Character Set and a Creative Platform

Abstract

Keywords

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