Framed installation view of 'SAFE MODE' by Characters ASCII, a contemporary queer art piece composed of three ASCII-rendered sheets printed in grayscale on salvaged dot-matrix paper.
Macro detail of ASCII characters in 'SAFE MODE,' a queer digital artwork rendered in monospaced code, showing intertwined bodies printed on continuous-feed paper.
Framed gallery wall view of 'SAFE MODE' by Characters ASCII, showing the full three-sheet sequence of conceptual queer ASCII art pinned to a white exhibition wall.
Alternate colorway of 'SAFE MODE,' a contemporary queer artwork by Characters ASCII, shown in blue-tinted ASCII output on salvaged dot-matrix paper.
Photo of ASCII text editing process for 'SAFE MODE,' showing three open documents used to build this conceptual queer photographic work from code.
Yellow-toned variation of 'SAFE MODE,' an experimental queer ASCII artwork printed on continuous-feed paper with alternative color processing.
Staged layout of 'SAFE MODE' by Characters ASCII, a digital queer art installation shown in pre-framing condition against a raw white wall.
Original conceptual photograph for 'SAFE MODE,' depicting two nude male bodies curled into mutual protection — later translated into ASCII for queer archival rendering.
Marked-up source photo for 'SAFE MODE,' showing visual editing and framing annotations used in the ASCII translation of this post-digital queer art piece.

SAFE MODE — two bodies folded into one warning. not hiding, but buffering; the system holds until it’s safe to feel again — restore later.

Details:
Year: 2025
Format: 3 individual sheets
Dimensions per sheet: 24 cm × 112 cm (~9.5″ × 44.1″)
Total: 72 cm × 112 cm (~28.3″ × 44.1″)
Printing method: ASCII output via dot-matrix on salvaged continuous-feed paper
Edition of 3 (per colorway, signed + numbered)
Ships unframed

→ For availability, custom commissions, or to inquire about alternate formats—including more accessible editions—please get in touch.

Curatorial Note

SAFE MODE stages intimacy as backup protocol. Here, touch is cached rather than enacted. The figures—intertwined, faceless, fetal—form a structure of withholding. Printed on salvaged paper in near-monochrome, the work echoes early warning systems, where sensation doesn’t vanish but is queued. What we see is not collapse, but a mutual retreat into delay: the necessary waiting that intimacy sometimes demands.

SAFE MODE marks a moment of shared internal exile, where sensation is paused until it can be safely processed again. The only directive: restore later.

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