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After realising, shortly after meeting the incredible Horsenburger, that we
could put teletext screens in artpacks should? jurys still out on that one,
beginning in September of 2016 we made an unprecedented for us,
uninterrupted spree of monthly releases straight through to February of 2021
-- for over four years, there was something new some months, multiple
somethings from our community packaged and on display at artpack gallery
websites near you. Back in Mist Classics 90s, we always had a hard time
upholding the then-standard schedule of monthly releases, so it was nice to
eventually get a good four years in upholding that tradition, albeit long
after it had ceased to be the norm. Doing the right thing at the wrong time
is about as close as we here in Mist ever get to doing the right thing at all,
so well take it!
For various reasons, by the 2020s it was impressed strongly upon us from
various corners that we needed to slow down a little and stop flooding the
artscene. With the momentum we had going in, we still made eight releases
that year of 2021, so a little seems to be just about exactly the amount
that we slowed down, but we were nonetheless exploring the options for other
outlets for the creations originating from within our community, and other
ways to package and present the works. A post-revival tradition had us
celebrating our annual anniversary in November with art on themes of
technology and cyberspace culture, and we thought that it might be a fun
change of pace to set up a WHQ BBS just like we had back in the old days,
making it an exclusive outlet -- a virtual art gallery -- for a celebratory
anniversary artpack slated to drop in November of 2021. Even more fun, we
could hide it and point the way forward with a breadcrumb trail of clues
hidden among other contemporary bulletin board systems! It would be like the
MIST2000 treasure hunt of 2015, my salvaged reclamation of thwarted ambitions
for a Masquerade-inspired BBS treasure hunt back in the early 90s, come full
circle!
But with eight releases that year, setting up a customized BBS no trifling
matter and a confused muddle of BBS and treasure hunt concepts still battling
it out on the drawing board, we failed to resolve matters in the 30 days
allotted between the concerns of our MIST1021 release and its subsequent
MIST1221 release, and consequently all of the art that was set aside for that
private treasure hunt exhibition started gathering virtual dust, going unshared
and unseen ... until today.
We never did get around to getting that BBS up yet! and going through the
exercise of setting up that treasure hunt, but when we do, hopefully well
have fresher prizes to offer! Its not that computer art on themes of Nikola
Tesla and Alan Turing, IBM mainframes and the After Dark screensaver,
MacPaint, the WinXP desktop and Simon are getting any less relevant over time,
I just dont want it to get totally fermented before being shared with the
world. Also bundled in are a handful of more recent works on the same wave
length.
This collection marks the first artpack appearance of OsmiumPenguin, sharing
an old-fashioned AI-assisted found poem, as well as an inaugural guest
appearance by Spinsane, who threw us a bone in the event we needed to rely on
it to push past a critical textiness barrier. One bone in this case didnt
make even a dent, but we appreciate the gesture. Notably, this collection
includes most of an album of cyberpunk-inspired synth music by Nicholas
Vining, so you can slip the headphones on while you browse. Another blast from
Mists past, also enjoy selections from Nick Lakowskis painting portfolio!
For the distinctive artwork used as the FILEID.DIZ and infofile headers in
this collection its a time capsule, just as this collection gives you a
glimpse into our best-laid plans of the old times, two years ago, back when
everything was in black and white we cannot thank littlebitspace enough. This
collection seemed impossible to release for years and without his contributions
it actually would have been impossible to release!
The teletext screens included in this artpack which, lets face it,
constitute the majority of its contents! are slated to be part of an
exhibition via projection on the exterior of Essexs Jaywick Martello Tower
art space, as part of TeletextRs Last Ever Teletext Show 2023 scheduled
to take place after sunset hours over the first couple weekends of December
2023. If youre in the area, it might be worth trying to get an eyeful in
person to enjoy your text art several stories high if not, stay tuned as the
projection is expected to be filmed for later rebroadcast via YouTube. If
you want to see that one several stories high, you need to BYO projector and
provide your own wall.
In addition to the next Blender coming up January 20-21 2024 I know, didnt
we just do a Blender? there are more Mist releases coming up around the
corner -- keep your eyes peeled for a time-release Advent special landing
promptly on Dec 1st. It may be expanded on in late December and heck, there
might even be another release between now and then, well see what happens!
Basically, creation is inevitable and escape from Mist releases is impossible,
you fools. And coming up next from Misprint Manuscripts, the latest
installment of TABNets TABNotes file, on the occasion of that echomail
cadres 30th anniversary! In short, theres more coming up in 2023 and in
2024 we hope to achieve at least half of what we aspired toward this past year!