For most computer users the term “spam” immediately conjures up the very negative image of unsolicited and annoying messages that inundate email boxes right across the globe.

Spam has long become the scourge of the Internet, taking up a very large share of email communications and often being used to spread malware.

For one artist from Romania, though, spam has become the inspiration for works of computer art. Alex Dragulescu, who studied fine art in California, has created a new art form named “Pseudocode”.

This involves taking characters from spam messages and translating them into images via a computer programme. This results in spam messages being transformed into digital flora specimens or three-dimensional geometric figures.

Mr Dragulescu has already presented this new art technology at festivals around Europe, using a database of some 60,000 spam emails coupled with animation and sound. Another use envisaged for “Pseudocode” is to transform spam emails into classy-looking personalised screensavers. At least someone knows what to do with all those unwanted messages…