__NOTOC__ Christian Wirth (born in the 1970s), better known by the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

RaD Man, is an American computer

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

. He works in the field of

ANSI art The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organi ...

, a method of creating art using a limited set of text characters and

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

escape codes based loosely on the relevant

ANSI The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organi ...

standard ( X3.64: Control Sequences for Video Terminals and

Peripheral A peripheral or peripheral device is an auxiliary device used to put information into and get information out of a computer. The term ''peripheral device'' refers to all hardware components that are attached to a computer and are controlled by the ...

s). RaD Man was initially involved with the

Aces of ANSI Art Aces of ANSI Art (abbreviated as ) was the first group of artists specifically organized for the purposes of creating and distributing ANSI art. The group was founded and operated by two BBS enthusiasts from California, "Zyphril" and "Chips Ahoy ...

(AAA), an organization which created ANSI artwork for a number of computer

bulletin board system A bulletin board system (BBS), also called computer bulletin board service (CBBS), is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user can perform functions such ...

s from 1989 to 1991. With others, he created the "ANSI Creators in Demand" group (also known as

ACiD In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a se ...

). Starting in 1990, ACiD released artwork on an ''ad hoc'' network of BBSes, updating a collection of art known as the ''ACiD Acquisition'' by sending a compressed file of all the completed work up to that time. By 1992, the increasing file size made this process impractical, and this led to the development of the artpack, where groups of artists (including ACiD) would upload monthly update packages instead.Hargadon, Michael A.
Like City Lights, Receding: ANSi Artwork and the Digital Underground, 1985-2000
" ''Concordia University'', March 18, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2011. In early 2004, RaD Man directed and produced ACiD Acquisition Update #100, colloquially known as "ACiD-100, the final artpack released by ACiD as a group. In 1996, RaD Man founded the ACiD Artpacks Archive to collect the artpacks created by th
hundreds of groups
that followed in ACiD's footsteps. This collection eventually was transferred to DVD as ''Dark Domain: the artpacks.acid.org collection'' in 2004. Since 2002, RaD Man has worked as a historian and

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for the artscene, collecting information and

interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...

s with the artists involved, and creating reports and presentations on the

lineage Lineage may refer to: Science * Lineage (anthropology), a group that can demonstrate its common descent from an apical ancestor or a direct line of descent from an ancestor * Lineage (evolution), a temporal sequence of individuals, populat ...

of computer art. Some of this work includes ''The ARTS'', a

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

show which discusses the many different facets of the creative computer underground scenes and the

Pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

2004

demoparty The demoscene is an international computer art subculture focused on producing demos: self-contained, sometimes extremely small, computer programs that produce audiovisual presentations. The purpose of a demo is to show off computer programming, ...

. In 2006, RaD Man became a member of cDc's Ninja Strike Force. In 2007, he co-founded Blockparty with Jason Scott, a North American

. The event was produced in cooperation with

Notacon Notacon (pronounced "not-a-con") was an art and technology conference which took place annually in Cleveland, Ohio from 2003 to 2014. Notacon ceased operations in 2014. The name Notacon became a bacronym for Northern Ohio Technological Advancement ...

and took place annually in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

, Ohio, from 2007–2010. In November 2009, ANSI art group Blocktronics paid tribute to RaD Man and his contributions to the ANSI art scene by releasing an artpack titled "Codename Chris Wirth".

External links

Interviews

* 1992
RaD Man interviews Ian Davis, author of TheDraw ANSI editor
* 1992
NOT! magazine interview with RaD Man
* 1994
Corruption magazine interview with RaD Man
* 1994
Distorted magazine interview with RaD Man
* 1995
Jonas magazine interview with RaD Man
* 1996
Beyond the Horizon interview with RaD Man
* 1997
.ANS version (original)
* 1998
Woezine magazine interview with RaD Man
* 1999

* 2002

for the independent documentary film, '' BBS: The Documentary'' * 2003
iCE.org interview with RaD Man
* 2004

(translated in both

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

and Russian) * 2004
3dluvr.com interview with RaD Man and Legalize
concerning Pilgrimage 2004 and the state of the scene * 2007

concerning Blockparty 2007

Speeches

* 2004
"The Art of Textmode"
at Assembly 2004, August 5, 2004 - August 8, 2004 * 2004
Jason Scott and RaD Man (ACiD) - 100 Years of the Computer Art Scene
Presented at

1, April, 2004 * 2005
Steering an Art Collective
at

* 2005
Beyond ASCII the Art of Textmode
at the DeviantArt Summit * 2007
T506 - Self Publishing in the Underground
at

DefCon The defense readiness condition (DEFCON) is an alert state used by the United States Armed Forces. (DEFCON is not mentioned in the 2010 and newer document) The DEFCON system was developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and unified and spec ...

15, August 4, 2007

Miscellaneous

*
Official page
on DeviantArt

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rad Man 1970s births Artscene Living people Artists from California