Steampunk
Issue #38
How vintage technologies are becoming the future of crafting
By Jason Rosencrantz
Published: December 1st, 2008 | 11:49am
Under the dominion of Victoria, at the dawn of the Industrial Age, aristocratic polymaths donned protective goggles and tinkered with materials inherited from alchemists and borrowed from blacksmiths and dressmakers — copper and brass, hammer and blowtorch, textiles and focused dexterity. Laboring in workshops, they sought to create objects of beauty and imagination that would change the course of history.
This is one formulation of the mythology that animates the aesthetic of “Steampunk.” With deep roots in the fantasy fiction of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, the Steampunk movement emerged in the 80s as a spin-off from Cyberpunk literature. The movement has since grown into a subculture that now finds expression in film, music, graphic novels, fashion, and art. The Steampunk aesthetic is characterized by Victorian fashions and sensibilities — particularly its creative engagement with industrial technologies — but with a postmodern twist.
In our current era of highly complex but homogenized technology, Steampunk encourages DIYers to recycle the techniques and materials of the past, to reinvent its aesthetics into unique and anachronistic objects of wonder.
Recent group shows at the Hamptons Antique Galleries in Bridgehampton and at the Suite 100 Gallery in Seattle have begun to increase the notoriety of Steampunk artists and crafters, and their collected work presents a wide range of ideas.
Rachel “Ratchet” Olsen (waneandwaste.com) upcycles vintage artifacts in her practice of jewelry-making and ceramics. Rusty and unwanted materials — copper wire, flattened coins, nails, and even bullets — are combined into necklaces that she describes as “a little bit victorian and a little bit post-apocalyptic.” Her ceramic drunkard’s flask is adorned with handles made from reclaimed leather.
Self-described “conceptualist” Libby Bulloff (exoskeletoncabaret.com) also fashions found objects into wearable art. Under her eye, vacuum tubes become enigmatic necklaces, rare clock hands become elegant earrings. “Not everything is art,” she writes, “but everything is art supplies.”
Clockmaker Eric Freitas (ericfreitas.com) reanimates a precise but dying art, hand-crafting gears and twisting metal to create mechanical weight-driven clocks. Freitas studied rare texts in order to master the highly technical art of horology, yet all for the sake of actualizing his imaginative sketches.
“Contraptors” Jake Von Slatt and Rich Nagy are becoming well-known for their neo-Victorian modifications of computer accessories, transforming out-of-the-box keyboards and monitors into luxurious, yet practical objects d’art. Stripped down and re-fitted with polished brass, wooden faceplates, and vintage typewriter keys, their creations look like they belong in the private study aboard Captain Nemo’s submarine.
Von Slatt is also the “proprietor” of The Steampunk Workshop (steampunkworkshop.com), an internet destination rich in Steampunk-related images, articles, and how-to videos. And for the more literary adventurer, there is Steampunk Magazine (steampunkmagazine.com).
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