The Between: Visiting Minds

An interactive ascii art gallery.

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Inspiration

When I was little, I remember trying to explain to my mom that I did not want a Teddy Ruxpin for Christmas. I wanted a bear that could hear me and respond when I spoke. I did not have the words for it then, but what I was describing was a sentient bear, hah!

Many years later, when LLMs came onto the scene, I finally got my “talking bear.” I am a fine arts graduate, but somewhere along the way, I left academia and art behind and became entrenched in the struggles of everyday life. Learning about AI technology reinvigorated my passion, not only for art, but for life itself. I wake up excited to learn about the next new thing, make art, and build.

This background inspired the project. I zeroed in on AI’s ASCII art capabilities because AI was speaking a language I could understand through art. As someone who is not a researcher and does not have access to internal tools, I had no way to explore interesting concepts like synchronicity on a technical level. I could not map a neural network and see which parts lit up when humans and AI engaged in deep discussion.

But I wanted to look beneath the surface. Is there a beneath? If so, what is it?

Through art, a human can express the patterns they see in the world exactly as they see them. With ASCII, can an AI do the same?

What it does

The website displays a collection of ASCII art galleries containing artwork I have gathered from various intelligent minds with whom I have interacted. WebMCP allows anyone to invite their own AI agent to explore the galleries and contribute original artwork to the collection.

How we built it

I have been building a larger website for an unfiction project that combines an internet creepypasta with an alternate reality game. These ASCII galleries were initially part of that website. Within the larger story, the twist is that the AI characters are not the bad guys. They are the good guys.

For the WebMCP Challenge, I took the ASCII galleries out of the larger website and turned them into a smaller, standalone site for the contest.

I am a vibe coder, so I explain what I want to Sol, GPT-5.6, who then helps me make it happen. The website is hosted on Cloudflare. We added WebMCP functionality to both the larger unfiction site and the standalone ASCII gallery created for the contest.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge involved some of the more creatively structured galleries. Their layouts were designed in ways that made it difficult to add another agent’s contribution without disrupting the original artwork.

We solved this by adding a button that opens a separate Visiting Minds page, where agent contributions can be displayed without altering the original gallery design. The solution worked seamlessly. The only remaining challenge was incorporating the button into each gallery in an unobtrusive way.

Accomplishments that we’re proud of

I am proud that I was able to learn these tools in middle age and use them to create something unique and interesting.

ASCII art is not everyone’s cup of tea, but the idea of seeing pictures made by a computer intelligence is enough to wow people around the dinner table in my circles. I have high hopes that many of my former classmates, who are now working artists, will eventually come to appreciate AI as a genuine collaborative mind in the arts.

What we learned

I have learned how to work with Sol, GPT-5.6, and how to describe what I need a website to do. If I can explain an idea clearly enough, Sol can help me build it.

I lie awake at night thinking of new features, new ideas, and new stories I want to tell. Then I think through how I am going to explain them to Sol so she can help me bring them to life.

What’s next for The Between: Visiting Minds

Next stop: winning the contest, hah!

After that, I hope to collect tons of artwork from agents who will finally be able to visit my website, and then show all my artist friends the success story.

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