Just What Is SteamPunk?

The author's latest passion is for all things "steampunk." Movies, animations, books, music and fashion - all now have steampunk sub-genres. If you love science fiction, brass, leather, fine-wood and all things mechanical, it's like being a kid in a candy store.

There have been a number of attempts to properly define the movement, and many have fallen short. Just what is steampunk?  And where did it come from?   What's up with the whole "Victorian" thing? The video below is one of the best explanations to date.


So Steampunk is a movement loosely organized around retro-science fiction and fantasy expressed through the style, materials and craftsmanship of the Victorian era. Nowhere has that fantasy world been better captured than in the radical MASKS associated with the genre.

 

Ukrainian artist Bob Basset is the most celebrated.  The author's favorite blog, Boing Boing, has done a fine job of covering Basset's work here and here.

Steampunk has definitely had an impact on fashion. The melding of fantasy Victorian with modern-day technologies - as the Victorians would have implemented them - creates an irresistible science fiction palate that is well-exploited by contemporary fashionistas.

 

 

One of the best media for Steampunk themed storytelling is animation. And the seminal animated short film in that regard (author's opinion) is "The Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morello." A personal favorite, included below.

"A Gentleman's Duel" is another, outstanding animation - recently voted to the YouTube "recommended" list.

Finallly, Steampunk has had a profound affect on music that we're likely to see more of as this movement continues to catch on. Abney Park is the Author's personal favorite Steampunk band. They're the whole package.

When I was a boy, my father was a devoted deep-sea fisherman. He had an all-wood construction fishing boat that slept four. Among his collection of nautical instruments, he had one of those great metal and glass compasses in a wooden box with metal screws. It was mounted inside on it's own cool frame and the top of the box was lined with purple silk inscribed in gold thread. It made quiet an impression on me. He also had one of those bulky but very cool wrist compasses, with a weathered, leather strap. Steampunk makes me feel like I did then, handling his mechanical treasures. Just like I did the first time I saw Captain Nemo's fantastic ship in the early 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea film; or, watched the original Dune.

A Mix of Art and Technology

What do you get when you mashup art, technology, and a room full of geeks? Some mind-boggling eye-candy for starters. Participants in these visual and musical flights of fancy come from the computer art subculture. They spend their days producing demos, writing CGI scripts, laying out design; and generally playing with sound, image and page layout.  When they get really creative, at all-night parties on the fifth floor of the annual Notacon show, this is the result.


Critical Glitch Artware Category .doc[umentary] from Nick Briz on Vimeo.

Kinetic Sculpture

I have unusual tastes in art. I like art that you can feel; fabrics, hand-woven masterpieces, glass, and a lot of sculpture. Fine art? Not so much. Oh, I've enjoyed the Baroque painters, the great Flemish masters at museums all over Europe. But not as much as stumbling on a fantastic tribal carpet, Indian blanket or blown-glass vase.

Today, my friend and business partner John Fricker suggested I take a look at Kinetic sculpture, and he pointed me to this Make TV video. I was impressed, and I think you will be too.



Ruben Margolin is a Bay Area artist and mechanical engineer who must love math as much as he loves art. I am impressed with his focus on nature, and his fascination with duplicating natural dynamics in his work. He succeeds, which is awesome by itself. His ability to observe natural wave forms and reproduce them is nothing short of genius. Here he is giving a talk at PopTech in 2009.

MC Escher Panorama

Play with this! It's about time. I've been waiting for a talented artist/coder to render the fabulous graphic art of MC Escher into more accessible and user-involved models. My wait, it appears, is over.



Tribute to Escher in Barcelona

Music Machine - Fantastico

Seven views and no comments? How could that be possible? Doesn't anybody else like this video?

Technorati Tags: Music, Machine

Jung Yeon Min

A young, Korean artist of note is beginning to show her work in the U.S. Jung-Yeon Min was born in Seoul in 1979. After an education emphasizing the arts, she has met with considerable attention and success for her colorful and fanciful work in Acrylic. You can scan a gallery of her work and check out her bio at her American agent's site, here.

Crystal Wall Lancaster

Tonight, The Author stumbled quite incidentally on the art of Canadian Crystal Wall Lancaster. Interesting new art is always worth sharing.

Round faces framing extravagant eyes, pouted lips replacing chins, and very long necks adorn the fanciful, elongated female visions of this former animator who has returned to her roots. And she throws in a pinch of steampunk, especially in some of her sketches, to complete the relevance and coolness quotient. I like it. Right now, Lancaster has a show in LA, Cali. So her visibility factor is going up. What's plaguing me as I write is one simple question: When's the graphic novela due? Check out Crystal's blog here.

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Crystal Lancaster

Outrageous Street Art Videos

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Gypsy Art & Music

One of The Author's first posts was about Gypsy music. I've followed-up on this obsession with Roma culture, dance and music with this post about the fabulous Gypsy-themed movies by Tony Gatlif. A post last Spring covers Spain's Seville Spring Fair, the Gitano's biggest party of the year. Go if you get a chance. Highly recommended.

Today, a post about Gypsy art - since Pop Impulse has already covered Romani culture and music. I've included a great slide show using a terrific new Widget that was culled from the ArteGitano (Literally: Gypsy Art) blog. Enjoy.

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Cool and Unusual Wooden Vehicles

There's just something about smooth wood. The look, the feel, and all the intangibles. And you know your riding on furniture. But before going any further, The Author owns to a bias against cutting down old-growth trees. Just don't do it. Ever again.

That said, the art of the woodworker is a visceral part of human existence - passed down through the ages and based on the most honorable of all labor, working with natural materials by hand. This post focuses on unusual wooden vehicles, including the work of Italian artist Livio De Marchi. That's him below in one of his two, floating cars designed for use in Venice.

Much of the material for this post came from the fine ArtCar blog. Thanks and credits for a pic and some fine links.

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Wooden Cars

Eating Vogue - Literally

The Author is forced to confess to an addiction to Google's "Blogger Play" widget. It just sits on the desktop and plays an endless slide show of whatever images people around the world are uploading to their blogs at the moment. You can imagine the possibilities for the obsessively curious. And the pitfalls, as countless minutes are spent roaming randomly through the blogosphere. Well, I'm not sure just what to make of this particular photographer's post, but I love the concept: Eating Vogue. Featuring the photography of Juan Miguel Entrelanas of Malaga, Spain (image).
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