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Encyclopedia
iCE Advertisements is a digital art
group formed in 1991. Although the expanded title is rarely ever used, iCE is an acronym for Insane Creators Enterprise. iCE, along with ACiD Productions
, has been one of the most prominent and critically successful groups on the underground computer artscene.
The group originally specialized in the creation of ANSI art
work for BBSes
and MCGA graphics. During the BBS-era, their biggest competitor was ACiD Productions
.
The ANSI artscene was in a continual state of flux, with intense rivalry between artists and groups. In addition, ansi artists tended to switch loyalties often, moving from group to group. Groups would merge and restructure, or completely disband, but iCE was generally viewed by artscene regulars as one the more stable groups. iCE was known to have particularly effective artistic leadership, and benefited from early artscene leaders such as Tempus Thales.
iCE, like their peers in the artscene, released artwork on a monthly basis in the form of an artpack
. iCE released their first monthly artpack
, referred to as an "iCEpack", in August 1992.
During the transition between BBS to the Internet
, interest in iCE began to wane somewhat during the late 1990s. This was quickly reversed after the introduction of their well received Tiles collaborative art project in December 2000.
In 2006 iCE has branched out into collaborative art, photography
and digital art
with members worldwide. Although iCE has continued to release monthly galleries of art, they abandoned the traditional artpack
format after the release of their July 2002 artpack (dated August 6, 2002) in favor of an online presentation via their website. The group is currently inactive and their website is currently down.
Digital art
Digital art is a general term for a range of artistic works and practices that use digital technology as an essential part of the creative and/or presentation process...
group formed in 1991. Although the expanded title is rarely ever used, iCE is an acronym for Insane Creators Enterprise. iCE, along with ACiD Productions
ACiD Productions
ACiD Productions is a digital art group. Founded in 1990, the group originally specialized in ANSI artwork for BBSes. More recently, they have extended their reach into other graphical media and computer software development...
, has been one of the most prominent and critically successful groups on the underground computer artscene.
History
ANSI art
ANSI art is a computer art form that was widely used at one time on BBSes. It is similar to ASCII art, but constructed from a larger set of 256 letters, numbers, and symbols — all codes found in IBM code page 437, often referred to as extended ASCII and used in MS-DOS and Unix environments...
work for BBSes
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
and MCGA graphics. During the BBS-era, their biggest competitor was ACiD Productions
ACiD Productions
ACiD Productions is a digital art group. Founded in 1990, the group originally specialized in ANSI artwork for BBSes. More recently, they have extended their reach into other graphical media and computer software development...
.
The ANSI artscene was in a continual state of flux, with intense rivalry between artists and groups. In addition, ansi artists tended to switch loyalties often, moving from group to group. Groups would merge and restructure, or completely disband, but iCE was generally viewed by artscene regulars as one the more stable groups. iCE was known to have particularly effective artistic leadership, and benefited from early artscene leaders such as Tempus Thales.
iCE, like their peers in the artscene, released artwork on a monthly basis in the form of an artpack
Artpack
An artpack is an archive of computer artwork which is distributed in a compressed format such as ZIP or RAR.While most artpacks today contain either ANSI and ASCII art or hirez VGA, they may also include a combination of RIPscrip art, tracked or otherwise digital music, poetry and editorials, 3D...
. iCE released their first monthly artpack
Artpack
An artpack is an archive of computer artwork which is distributed in a compressed format such as ZIP or RAR.While most artpacks today contain either ANSI and ASCII art or hirez VGA, they may also include a combination of RIPscrip art, tracked or otherwise digital music, poetry and editorials, 3D...
, referred to as an "iCEpack", in August 1992.
During the transition between BBS to the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, interest in iCE began to wane somewhat during the late 1990s. This was quickly reversed after the introduction of their well received Tiles collaborative art project in December 2000.
In 2006 iCE has branched out into collaborative art, photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
and digital art
Digital art
Digital art is a general term for a range of artistic works and practices that use digital technology as an essential part of the creative and/or presentation process...
with members worldwide. Although iCE has continued to release monthly galleries of art, they abandoned the traditional artpack
Artpack
An artpack is an archive of computer artwork which is distributed in a compressed format such as ZIP or RAR.While most artpacks today contain either ANSI and ASCII art or hirez VGA, they may also include a combination of RIPscrip art, tracked or otherwise digital music, poetry and editorials, 3D...
format after the release of their July 2002 artpack (dated August 6, 2002) in favor of an online presentation via their website. The group is currently inactive and their website is currently down.
Releases
iCEpacks
- August 1992 (first release)
- August 1997 Disk A (fifth anniversary)
- August 1997 Disk B
- August 1997 Disk C
- August 1997 Disk D
- August 1997 Disk E
- August 2002 (final iCEpack released in zipZIP (file format)Zip is a file format used for data compression and archiving. A zip file contains one or more files that have been compressed, to reduce file size, or stored as is...
format) - December 2002 (tenth anniversary, converted to zipZIP (file format)Zip is a file format used for data compression and archiving. A zip file contains one or more files that have been compressed, to reduce file size, or stored as is...
format by RaD ManRaD ManChristian Wirth , better known by the pseudonym RaD Man, is an American computer artist and historian. He works in the field of ANSI art, a method of creating art using a limited set of text characters and color escape codes based loosely on the relevant ANSI standard .RaD Man was initially...
)
Image Viewer
- iCEview, a DOSDOSDOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
mode multi format image viewer.
In the news
- iCE's Modern Version of Old-Fashioned Quilting Bee on slashdot.org (January 23, 2005)
- Web-based Collaborative Artwork on slashdot.org (July 2, 2001)
- New iCE Web Site on slashdot.org (June 4, 1999)