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Steampunk: Back To The (Steam-Powered) Future

ramonmercado

ramonmercado

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Back to the (steam-powered) future
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/cultu ... future.php
Jessica Griggs, opinion editor

I have a confession to make. Unlike many of our readers and some of my colleagues, I am no science fiction aficionado. Sure, a few sci-fi books are up near the top of my favourites list and I'd choose a sci-fi movie over a rom-com any day, but that's as far as it goes.

For many people, this isn't the case at all. Diehard fans want to live and breathe their passion, dress up in it, divide it into genres and subgenres and dedicate Wikipedia pages to it.

I recently came across one such subgenre that I had no idea existed. When I enthusiastically informed our web technician of my discovery over lunch he looked at me the same way my sister looks at my mum when she's trying to explain the difference between emo and goth.

But just in case you're like me and haven't heard of it yet, here's the lowdown. It's called steampunk and it's a subgenre of cyberpunk.

But instead of cyberpunk's young renegades fighting the forces of evil in a dystopian, oppressive future, steampunk throws all our modern, digitised technology back into Victorian England and uses it to embark on adventures.

Gallery: Inside the world of steampunk - see some of the most fascinating steampunk objects from a new exhibition
It's Wild, Wild West and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen rather than The Matrix or Blade Runner. Think high tech devices designed by Jules Verne or H. G. Wells, adorned with luxurious upholstery, crystal gears and curlicue levers.

The contraptions are often powered by steam or some sort of electro-mechanical hybrid, giving them a Victorian feel but requiring the brain of a 21st-century mad scientist to create them.

"If you're going to take something like a computer and say it was invented in the 1900s, it would not be wrapped in simple black plastic. The computer would be made of brass and mahogany and look as if it was made actually during that time. The only difference is that it's a high tech device," explains Art Donovan, a New York designer who has curated the world's first steampunk exhibition at the Museum of the History of Science at Oxford University. http://steampunkmuseumexhibition.blogspot.com/

The objects themselves can perform their intended function, like this souped up (or rather souped-down, see right) computer in one Steampunker's living room, or they can be fantasy objects, like time machines and ray guns.

Inventers employ a certain amount of artistic license in their designs. Donovan calls this the "what-if" clause.

"In the normal timeline of science there are all these possible what ifs - offshoots of what could have occurred. It's not ridiculous to think that we could have ended up with technology that looked like this if things had panned out in a different way," he says.

"Suppose Nikola Tesla was working alone: we may have had a very different version of electricity, but Thomas Edison was very motivated, very influential and his method of providing electrical energy to the population won out over Tesla's ideas. It's often happenstance that dictates which technology we use."

Creators of steampunk objects, whilst celebrating a rose-tinted version of a bygone age, are certainly not stuck in Victorian times.

"Most fans are very tech savvy. The genre came to life on the internet in the 1990s, so back then you had to be pretty switched on to have a blog and post pictures".

Why is steampunk so popular today and what does this say about modern technology?

Donovan thinks that it's a mixture of a love of the objects, nostalgia for a gentler time (the genre doesn't tend to deal with the dark side of the Victorian era) along with a rejection of modernism.

"Some people are thrilled with the mores of the Victorian society," he says. "There's a slowness, a genteelness associated with that era. There's a social formality."

"Fans love the idea of imbuing a device with a visual and tactile importance. They feel that the device should look as important as its function. Modernism as a design has been so overwhelmingly popular for scientific devices in the last decade. It's a beautiful style but after a while people got tired of its sterility and longed for something more ornate."

"Whatever the application, the art celebrates a time when new technology was produced, not by large corporations, but by talented and independent artisans and inventors."

Gallery: Inside the world of steampunk
http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/steampunk

Images: "Eye Pod': Joey Marsocci, Victorian workstation
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It is a slightly embarrassing confession from the writer since it is nearly (or over?) a quarter of a century old (even if we ignore the proto-Steampunk of works like The Warlord of the Air from 1971). The Steampunk lifestyle is more recent but I know of people who abandoned Steampunk years ago because it was... old (top?) hat and becoming cliched, in favour of the scientific romances of earlier times that partly inspired it. Personally I think it is this point where it gets interesting, once you have well-established genre conventions you can really start to muck around with them ;)
 
I was thinking a similar thing myself, steampunk never grabbed me though i was quite into cyberpunk back when it meant reading too much william gibson and painting rocket jets on the back of your doc martins to pretend you were tetsuo.

Not to be confused with the 'cybergoth' of about 10 years later which seemed to be more about glowsticks, fluorescent clothing, goggles and techno/ebm type music played so it sounded like one long 2 hour track (which confused me no end)
 
I´m on a steampunk forum as well, and it is becoming rather known in the mainstream these days. It was even recently featured on an episode of NCIS.
I would say the writer has gotten a few things wrong, but then again most people on the steampunk forum have also gotten those things wrong.
 
Mighty_Emperor said:
It is a slightly embarrassing confession from the writer since it is nearly (or over?) a quarter of a century old (even if we ignore the proto-Steampunk of works like The Warlord of the Air from 1971). ...
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Michael Moorcock wrote a series of novels featuring his reluctant, Edwardian chrononaut, Oswald Bastable (Originally one of E. Nesbitt's young 'Treasure Seekers', in the children's novel of the same name), Collected in, A Nomad of the Time Streams. See also, Harry Harrison's A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah! (1972), or the even earlier, Pavane (1968), by Keith Roberts. All well worth searching out and reading. ;)

An essay on 'A transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah! and 'What If' SF, by Harry Harrison:
http://www.iol.ie/~carrollm/hh/n13-tt-worlds.htm
 
Pietro_Mercurios said:
Mighty_Emperor said:
It is a slightly embarrassing confession from the writer since it is nearly (or over?) a quarter of a century old (even if we ignore the proto-Steampunk of works like The Warlord of the Air from 1971). ...
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Michael Moorcock wrote a series of novels featuring his reluctant, Edwardian chrononaut, Oswald Bastable (Originally one of E. Nesbitt's young 'Treasure Seekers', in the children's novel of the same name), Collected in, A Nomad of the Time Streams
Click to expand...

And the amusing thing is they are far more Steampunk than the later books the the term was invented to describe!! Typical example of a younger generation coming along and think they've invented sex. ;) Although I think these days he gets the retrospective credit:

The influence on steampunk literature goes as far back as H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, but those authors can't really be considered steampunk because they were writing about their own era. Michael Moorcock's "The Warlord of the Air" (1971), "Lord Kelvin's Machine" (1992) by James P. Blaylock, "The Difference Engine" (1991) by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, and Di Filippo's "Steampunk Trilogy" (1995) are often cited as the central steampunk novels
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www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/article ... steampunk/
 
Xanatic_ said:
I´m on a steampunk forum as well, and it is becoming rather known in the mainstream these days. It was even recently featured on an episode of NCIS.
I would say the writer has gotten a few things wrong, but then again most people on the steampunk forum have also gotten those things wrong.
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Really? NCIS got something wrong? Imagine that!
 
The future is here!
Crowds out in force to see Tornado haul The Cornishman to Penzance
By CG_Steve | Posted: May 29, 2017

The crowds were out in force to see the famous Tornado steam locomotive haul a train called The Cornishman down to Penzance today.
It was the first time that the steam loco had come to Cornwall and people were out at stations and along the line to make sure they didn't miss it.

etc...

http://www.cornwalllive.com/crowds-...-to-penzance/story-30360131-detail/story.html

Photos and videos on page.
 
Arcane: An animated SF/Fantasy Steampunk series on Netflix. In the cities of Piltover and Zaun there is unrest, Piltover the upper city literally looks down on and oppresses Zaun. We have gangs of thieves, rebels, steampunk Stormtroopers, magic melded with science. This is serious stuff with great physical and "magic" fights. Also a tale of two sisters falling out and Scientist/Mages battling against the conservatism of the Council who fear the unleashing of uncontrollable powers. It's set in the League Of Legends game universe. Directed by Pascal Charrue and Arnaud Delord, written by Christian Linke and Alex Yee. 9/10.
 
A fine festival.

Amy Elizabeth Smith and Emil Huld wearing costumes at Lincoln Steampunk festival
IMAGE SOURCE ,BBC/JAKE ZUCKERMAN Image caption, Amy Elizabeth Smith, right, pictured with partner Emil Huld, said Lincoln was "the best setting" for the Steampunk festival


Thousands of people from across the globe have packed the streets of Lincoln for the city's annual Steampunk festival.

About 50,000 people were expected to attend the four-day event, believed to the largest of its kind in the world, over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Organisers said the festival celebrated "imagination and creativity".

The Steampunk movement blends science fiction with reimagined Victorian fashion and technology.

Jenny Campbell
IMAGE SOURCE, BBC/JAKE ZUCKERMAN Image caption, Jenny Campbell said "anything goes" at the Steampunk festival

This year's Asylum Steampunk Festival features live music, performances, fashion shows, talks, workshops and costume competitions in Lincoln's historic centre.

"Anything goes - you can just let your imagination roll and just go with it," said Jenny Campbell, who travelled from Nottingham.

Angi Essenberger, Mary Romagna, Sofia Schaefer and Anna Liechtenstein
IMAGE SOURCE, BBC/JAKE ZUCKERMAN Image caption, Angi Essenberger, Mary Romagna, Sofia Schaefer and Anna Liechtenstein travelled from Liechtenstein for the festival

Amy Elizabeth Smith, an artist from Cheshire, said the festival brought together "a very broad church of different creative ideas".
"Lincoln is the best setting," she added. "You have the architecture, you've got the people, the friendliness."

Amelei Ghmarlog and Mandy Kilvington
IMAGE SOURCE, BBC/JAKE ZUCKERMAN Image caption, Amelei Ghmarlog, from North Hykeham and Mandy Kilvington, from Newark

Organiser John Naylor, chair of the Victorian Steampunk Society, said the festival offered "escapism" at what was a difficult time for many people.

He told BBC Look North: "We've got people who travelled from Japan to be here, Germany, Sweden and obviously lots and lots of locals.
"People just want colour in darkness."

Craig Walton
IMAGE SOURCE, BBC/JAKE ZUCKERMAN Image caption, Craig Walton, from Spalding, with "spider witch dragon" Monty perched on his shoulder

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-66633483
 
Cochise said:
I'd happily have got into steampunk if I wasn't already putting out three contrasting images at the time. Like it though.

Mind you some of the products that tried to profit off it were absolutely cringeworthy.

Case in point:

https://uk.bassettlowke.co.uk
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Ohh, lovely! :)

Steam trains are already Steampunk. :cool:
 
escargot said:
Ohh, lovely! :)

Steam trains are already Steampunk. :cool:
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Exactly! they don't need some irrelvant add-ons that make no sense. What I liked about steampunk in it's early days it created an alternative narrative that made sense.

Oddly, when I was still a teenager and reading sci-fi (lots of Moorcock) I wanted to write a book about a version of Earth where aliens had imposed a ban on electricity and nuclear power until we learned better. Of course we didn't, so my book would have had lots of steam railways, battles between rival sailing and steam navies, - and if I'd have thought of it back then , some pirates like those in the picture above :)
 
I've been 'into' steampunk since I read "The Difference Engine", wrote for and ran games of "Space 1889", and was co-opted to help run a town's steampunk weekend.
I still enjoy it, but it's more of a creative and artistic activity.
 
Ghastly term; seems to be for folk who would be seen dead thinking about comics.
 
After a recommendation in today's Guardian, I watched the first episode of Carnival Row tonight on Amazon Prime.
Pretty impressive and I did emit a "wow!" on seeing a steam-powered monorail.
In fact the entire pseudo Victorian London (roughly Jack the Ripper era), albeit with humans, fauns and Fae coexisting, was beautifully realised.
it's maybe a bit politically preachy on the class/caste system, with the goodies and baddies very clearly demarcated from the start, but the wonderful eye-candy comfortably saw me through that first hour. I'd be hard pushed to think of any TV series that leveraged the whole Steampunk vibe better than Carnival Row. But will the plot be properly developed and keep me riveted, or will it turn into a shaggy dog story?
Anyone else watched both series and can tell me (without spoilers) whether it's worth staying the course?
 
Frideswide said:
I think I watched it becuase Jared Harris is in it. Very enjoyable if not paradigm shifting :)

And Legolas didn't annoy me as much as usual so that's good too!
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Yes. I almost got the feeling that Orlando Bloom, in full-on Cockney geezer mode, was channelling his inner Vinnie Jones at times! But I've always been a sucker for a bit of Steampunk and Carnival Row's alternative Victoriana is an absolute feast for the eyes. So I guess I'll stick with it.
 
Frideswide said:
I think I watched it becuase Jared Harris is in it. Very enjoyable if not paradigm shifting :)

And Legolas didn't annoy me as much as usual so that's good too!
Click to expand...

Got 4 hours of Carnival Row under my belt now and still enjoying it.
Who could resist werewolves and Zeppelins!
But one minor irritation: lead actress Cara Delevingne is a London girl born and bred, so why put on a faux Irish accent reminiscent of the cringeworthy Leprechauns in The Rings of Power?
 
Finally got to the end of Carnival Row.
Whilst it looks absolutely gorgeous and has to be in the top three steampunk fairy tales I’ve ever watched, the political allegories did weigh rather heavily.
Also, as I mentioned earlier, Cara Delevingne’s cringeworthy faux-Oirish accent really irritated me. The other Pix(ies) had more neutral English or even Cockney geezer accents , so why make an actress from London indulge in such shameful Paddywhackery?
I did groan at one character - Boz Ghaidos being such a thinly disguised Fagin!
But onto the positives. As well as the wonderful eye-candy (who could resist steam monorails, zeppelins and such an exotic bestiary?), what did impress me was how nuanced some of the characters were. People who you were rooting for at the start turn out to be absolute rotters and apparent boo-hiss baddies turn out to have a decent side after all.
The abrupt cancellation, however, when Amazon Prime realised Carnival Row wasn’t going to be the next Game of Thrones, will likely leave many viewers feeling rather short-changed.
Overall though, it entertained me rather more than it irritated me and I don’t regret staying the course for the two series. The fact that The Guardian hated it, dismissing it as “a Dickensian fever dream” made me determined to like it perhaps a bit more than I would have done otherwise!
Probably a 6½/10 from me.
 
Cochise said:
I may have posted this before, if so apologies. He's some pukka steam punk (with a bit of Mordor thrown in) :
View attachment 69126

I refer you to the fascinating Douglas Self site, of which this is just one page among dozens of marvels:

http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/fictional/fictional.htm
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I've always loved that image. The site linked says it's probably by Rodney Matthews and used for a computer game. Let me state that it's definitely by Rodney Matthews, and I believe its earliest usage was on a Diamond Head album cover.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am_I_Evil_(album)

Great-looking loco, but I worry that the wheels are a bit small!

Edit: available to buy as a jigsaw puzzle:

https://plastichead.com/rodney-matthews-the-heavy-metal-hero-500-piece-puzzle-puzzle-bcp09pz
 
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