Steampunk: denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used – usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian England – but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy.
I’m a big fan of Victorian literature and history, and I love technology and gadgets, so it’s only fitting that I should be attracted to steampunk as a genre of creative and decorative arts.
Imagine Charles Dickens pounding out his novels on one of these:
What would classical music sound like if Paganini had access to this:
What kind of badass would Sherlock Holmes have been if he carried one of these:
There are elements of steampunk cropping up all over the place in recent years, from the incredibly cool nixie clock:
to the weird and wonderful sculpture of Jessica Joslin:
And of course, a slew of film and literary adaptations of the form abound. Wikipedia has compiled quite a comprehensive list of steampunk works, if you are interested.
Finally, bridging the gap between traditional science fiction and steampunk, the Artist Eric Poulton has created a series of steampunk Star Wars images.
2 Responses to “The Steampunk post.”
I’m loving this post, especially the Sherlock Holmes reference and, of course the steampunk Star Wars link.
[...] The Boston Globe has a nice feature on one of my favorite design genres. I’m talking, of course, about steampunk (see my previous steampunk post here). [...]