Last semester, in my 3D class my good friend (who usually ends up in the same art classes as me somehow...) would find out about different artists or groups and tell me about ones she thought I would like. I remember that one fateful day she told me about Steampunk. It was love at first sight and I became hooked on this fantastical steam-powered sub-culture.
Steampunk, the mashup between technology and romance, science-fiction and the victorian era intersected, industrialism and fantasy...It's just beautiful.
Think along the lines of Around the World In 80 Days by Jules Verne, or the movies Howl's Moving Castle, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Which is what Steampunk could be; the world of tomorrow. Where we have high tech fashion and gadgets combined with a nostalgic edge, an added complicatedness just for the beauty of it despite the lack of necessity.
Steampunk originated around the late 1980s, or at least the sub-genre culture term does. A science fiction author by the name of K.W. Jeter, was searching for a general term for one of his works. He ended up writing this letter to Locus, a science fiction magazine in the spring of 1987:
Steampunk is certainly getting attention and has gained popularity over the past year. I hope it doesn't go over the top and become mass popularized though. It would lose that uniqueness that had first attracted me to it. Anyways, some cool happenings with Steampunk are...Dear Locus,Enclosed is a copy of my 1979 novel Morlock Night; I'd appreciate your being so good as to route it Faren Miller, as it's a prime piece of evidence in the great debate as to who in "the Powers/Blaylock/Jeter fantasy triumvirate" was writing in the "gonzo-historical manner" first. Though of course, I did find her review in the March Locus to be quite flattering.
Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like "steampunks", perhaps...
—K.W. Jeter
a) Blizzard's new RPG (role playing game for non-nerds out there ;) is supposedly Steampunk themed and is to be released in approximately four years.
b) Last month, Knott's Berry Farm released information that the Halloween Haunt this year would be "Victorian Steampunk Vampire" themed. Even though I've lost interest in Knott's Halloween Haunt as it seems to have gone downhill over the past couple years, I must say I'm going to have to attend it this year.c) The United Kingdom holds a Steampunk Festival each year in September known as "Weekend at the Asylum" which is actually held in a former Victorian Lunatic Asylum. Just typing this is giving me the chills I want to go to that festival so badly!
Back to fashion, one of my favorite Steampunk fashion sites that I've found is called Clockwork Couture where some beautiful Steampunk pieces can be bought. There is also some great steampunk jewelry that can be found on Etsy (it's like Ebay but for handcrafted items). Many things, people build and create themselves. Such as the steampunk computer with a typewriter keyboard I've displayed. I've posted some pictures below that were created to help piece together a Steampunk outfit or to give someone ideas. There's so many possibilities and point of views on steampunk which is another reason
why I love it so much. It's a rich and lively take on the future, one that's not minimal and cold, but most certainly intriguing and inviting.
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