Studio 360: Steampunk — a term that once referred to a few science-fiction authors — has become one of today’s most influential design styles. From a handful of hobbyists encasing their iPads in Victorian brass fittings or inventing mock Old West ray guns, steampunk has become a Simpsons punchline (“I just hope we put in enough steampunk,” worries Homer, “whatever that is”).
16 comments:
I've always been intrigued with the steam punk trend, a mix mash of old an new, even some futuristic elements involved in fashion, clothes, and culture. It reminds me of that Disney movie- Treasure Planet, even Atlantis. It's interesting but true- everything old will be "new again", even future worlds (post- apocolyptic ones) seem to be depicted in this steam punk sense- that as civilization progresses, and moves forward, we are moving backward. There's also an old gadget trendiness that I feel assimilates to this idea. I'm speaking for clothes and costume, but I'm sure the same goes for music aswell- fiddles and upright, old basses, are making a comeback.
I never knew what Steampunk really was, though Luko's shoe (from Susan's shoe project) gave me a bit of an idea. It is funny to think that it is such in influential style today. From my understanding this style is a combination of Victorian elements and copper/brass objects (like weapons and bullets).
Steampunk is also a great example of how costumes and fashion has such a great influence on cultures. The Steampunk music, music festival, and SteamCon stemmed from this Steampunk phase.
Okay, so i would like to start by stating that i love steampunk and all it represents. As is said in the article it really was the last time when things were explorable and science was only for the super genius. Technology was ver romanticized and stylistic. It had personality. I feel like the phrase " they dont make em like they used to" really applies here. Things were beuatifully made out of french polished mahogany with brass accents. For example The Time Machine by H.G. Wells shows the sense of adventure and sense of style the victorian era had which one cans start to grasp when looking at this picture of the time machine described in the book. http://chemicallyentranced.comuf.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/the-time-machine.bmp
Furthermore looking to the past is a tried and true way of building our future both practically and aesthetically.
I was very aware of steam punk as a fashion statment but I never knew that there was also music as part of this newly emerging stly movment. I am actually curious to see how they stlye of steampunk has been interperted in the style of the music. Speaking of steampunk, I was actually firt introduced to it in jewlery making becuase there is such a large demand for that type of jewlery, many stores have taken to shoking whole sections of just brass gears and findings. I know one store in I shopped at that was selling grab bags of just watch parts. The style movemnet is really quite creative and I would love to see how is would look in a play. i know that it has been tried in film ( the recent adaptation of the three musketeers) but I have yet to see it attempted in the form of a play.
Personally Ive never really liked the steampunk look, I always felt like it was sort of trying too hard. Although i dont really agree, I really respect what Abney Park had to say about it. Thats a very cool mindset to have and a great reason to play music (which I, like Jenni, did not know existed as part of the steampunk world).
I completely agree with what they said about the past and how there is a lack of adventures now days and things a much more bland than they were in the Victorian era, I dont really understand how steam punk helps fix that. There was never a time in the past where they dressed that way. While I am definitely for bringing back fashions of the past, steampunk just wasnt one of them. I would be really interested to hear some music by Abney Park and compare it to the Victorian era. Actually, this article has inspired me to go to the library to see what i can find on music of that era, i love Victorian clothes so much i want to see if the music would be the same way.
Steam punk is very prevalent almost everywhere. There is a huge revitalization of old styles and things, in several different fields like fashion and language. Steam punk is just that: a revitalization of a 400 year old clothing styles. What's interesting about it, and the almost artistic element is that the modern twist is not really that "new". What I mean by this is that the brass pipes and fittings they used could and would be found in Victorian England. My point behind all that was that in Steampunk-inspired music, you find a similar thing. The parts the electric guitars play sound very old-time, as well as the genuinely older instruments. It's a very cool, artistic mash.
Ive always enjoyed the Steam Punk style. i think its such a cool way to clash the future with the past. and because of the fact hat it envolves futuristic elements it really opens up a huge range of things you can do with it design wise.
Steampunk has always fascinated, especially the idea of imagining a future world from the perspective of the past. I never stopped to think of how it branched of from Victorian fashion. Thanks to this article I was able to go back and watch the best steampunk movie, Wild Wild West, with a newfound appreciation for the effort the designers took to create nods and references towards that fashion era (corsets, bustier, top hat, etc..)
I did not know how trendy and contemporary I was. I attended a wedding this weekend that had a steampunk theme. Lots of goggles and corsets and newsie hats and metal flair shaped like gears. I really fit the bride and grooms personality and was held at the Heinz History Center in the Strip. The large green I-beams and the brick work added to the motif. I really like the vintage Victorian feel of it all. All we need to do is give the Rivals girls some goggles and they would be good to go.
I find it very interesting when to seemingly impossibly different things are put together to form something fantastic. I am interested to find out more about how they blend the past with the future. Lately I have been hearing about steam punk more and more but I never would have guessed that it is such an influential style but when I stop to think about tit many designers seem to draw influence from steam punk. I also knew nothing about the music before I read this article and I would love to learn more about it.
I've always loved steam punk culture but in order to really get in to it you need to either have lots of money to buy pre-made steam punk magic or have the craftiness and know how to make things yourself. I don't have the money so I'm working on honing my craft skills to be able to make things for myself. Steampunk is a great combination of modern culture and industrial era looks. Leather, brass, and wood make the best crafting materials.
I have just been recently introduced to the term steampunk. Many different things in modern society have influence from steampunk and I have enjoyed them. I do not agree that today's life has lost adventure. Adventure is what you make it to be, whether you sit at home watching netflix or go out and adventure. Being someone who does not take full advantage of the city I live could complain that life has no adventure but that would be hypocritical. I am glad the band it trying to find to continue to find and have adventures. Realizing some of this is very cliche but life is truly what you make it, so go and explore.
I was really hoping this article would've gone more in-depth in explaining what steampunk is, because I don't really know the exact definition. However, I think the design aesthetic of this concept is pretty fantastic. I really enjoy the idea of re-vamping the Victorian era style with a sci-fi twist. It mixes something old and classic with something new that allows you to expand on whatever adventure the story takes you on, and you do it in style. I had no idea that SteamCons existed until now, but I'm definitely intrigued to go check something like that out!
I had no idea what Steampunk was until I read this article. I think mixing Victorian, Western, and modern techno music is very cool. The combination of acoustic and electric sounds balance each other out nicely, creating an entirely different genre. It is fascinating how the fashion of Steampunk also mimics its sound. I guess certain sounds evoke certain images in your mind. The fashion definitely looks costume-y, and the combinations of fabrics, colors, and textures work very well together. If these costumes were adjusted, I can definitely see these outfits on a runway. It's strange because we've seen parts of these outfits from the historical eras, and yet the final product looks like a completely new style. I LOVE IT!
For personal reasons, I have tried all day to resist posting to this article. But as the shadows lengthen on the crumb-strewn lobby floor, and the 6 p.m. deadline approaches, I am forced by desperate necessity to break my silence and cry out, "When, Lord, Oh when will this pseudo-movement sink back into the greasy, steam-cylinder-oil-infused cloud from which it emerged?" Or didn't, as it turns out. As someone who lived through that emergence, at least on the west coast, and who had the misfortune to be occasionally associated with it, I have always been very conflicted about the fad. There's nothing wrong with fashion, and riffing off past eras is nothing new. It's the basis of fashion. Having spent much blood and sweat in the restoration of steam engines of various types and states of dissolution, it's hard to see Steampunk as anything but a trivialization of the truly unbelievable craftsmanship and ingenuity of the generation innovators and technicians who made the steam revolution possible. I think there must be chain-mail enthusiasts who feel the same way about the Renaissance Fair. If the iPod encrusters and amateur milliners would spend just half their energy and interest on learning about actual steam technology, an important and fascinating chapter in the development of our world would perhaps have a chance of being understood and preserved. Again, I understand this is just my personal problem and no one else's, which is why I hesitate to respond. For those of you are interested in this superficiality, think how much more invested you might be in the real thing! Go check out the 30+ foot tall steam driven air pump on the South Side at the end of the Smithfield Street bridge, the last remaining of six that used to feed a foundry furnace here in Pittsburgh. Artistry like that deserves our attention.
I really Google it, trying to figure out what is Steampunk. And then i realize that one of my best friend dresses in this style since we were in junior high...She is always the one being judged "Too much" or something like "Too fashion". But i do like this style. old and new are mixed together. remind me of Jazz. bad, wild,modern and a little bit of blue.Le jazz hot.
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