Steam-Punk

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just become aware of it... very interesting art form.


"Steampunk is a sub-genre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of "the path not taken" of such technology as dirigibles, analog computers, or digital mechanical computers (such as Charles Babbage's Analytical engine); these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or with a presumption of functionality.

Steampunk is often associated with cyberpunk and shares a similar fanbase and theme of rebellion, but developed as a separate movement (though both have considerable influence on each other). Apart from time period and level of technological development, the main difference between cyberpunk and steampunk is that steampunk settings usually tend to be less obviously dystopian than cyberpunk, or lack dystopian elements entirely.

Various modern utilitarian objects have been modded by individual artisans into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical "steampunk" style, and a number of visual and musical artists have been described as steampunk."

I've been into steam for a year or so--I like "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" (the comic, not the movie) especially. Right now I'm reading _The Difference Engine_, the novel that originated the term. The theme of this year's WindyCon (a Chicago area fan convention) is steampunk, so I am assembling my first costume for that. You might want to check out the band Abney Park--they have a few videos on YouTube.

I think that was the thrme 2 years ago at Windycon - based off a guide I got from there then from someone I knew who went there

EDIT: OP, see steampuink star wars
http://www.sillof.com/C-Steampunk-SW.htm

I actually prefer Diesel Punk.

Good examples of this aesthetic are seen in the movies Brazil, The Breed, and The Magic Compass.

Last edited by Fogman on 27 Oct 2009, 1:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I also like dieselpunk a lot better than steampunk. It's less about neo-Victorian elegance and more about mad scientists, dystopia, military uniforms, supervillains, art deco, etc. I like the time period a lot better too.

http://www.dieselpunks.org

Though dieselpunk isn't exactly big enough to be its own subculture yet. It stays on the fringes of steampunk. Which is becoming huge! I was just at a steampunk convention and I was blown away. It's pretty much the new cybergoth in terms of being the latest alt culture trend. Just wondering how many years it will take before it's at Hot Topic.

kickass movie, from the creator of akira

I became into Steam Punk about a year ago and I loved the detail and the creativity of mechanics and clockwork so I, as I usually do when interested in something saved some info and pics I thought I could post on here as a little eye candy. I grew fond of jewelry and gadgets most and not bigger objects so please excuse the absence of big mechanical contraptions which would certainly also be very interesting and fun.













Hope this satisfies your curiosity for steam punk gadgets and gives you and insight to how creative and interesting this concept truly is.
Everything runs on steam, how environmental.

sTeAm CaT out! *pshhhyyy!!*

I'd never heard of steam punk before. Looks like I'm behind the times.
Those images are great though.
Would you say Eraserhead is a steam-punk film? How about the City of the Lost Children? (Both are dreadful films IMHO, but the imagery is great.)

I don't know about Eraserhead but City of the Lost Children certainly has that post industrialization theme with the gadgets and mechanism, yes City of the Lost Children would be classed as steam-punk genre. The idea behind steam-punk is a setting post industrial revolution where a alternative fuel or drive energy is introduced making everything run on steam, and era where you create what you can and make it run on nifty little contraptions and small mechanical clockwork parts, it has many details and I find it very appealing in a tinker sense as I love machinery and mechanical creations, the beauty from metal and form.

Got into this pretty heavy a few months ago. Found a comic called 'Girl Genius,' ( http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/ ) It's been running 3 times weekly since 2002 or so, so if you start at the beginning, you'll be at your monitor 6-8 hours later (if you get sucked up in it like I did...

I'm probably the other person that actually liked the League of Exraordinary Gentlemen (though I've never seen the comic)

There's another comic, about 'Full Metal Alchemist', an 'Inner Kingdom' comic, and some other Steampunk stuff out there. A bit anime for my taste...but that's me...

I have a deviant art account (same handle) devoted to Steampunk...aside from the other galleries...

It's good fun....

This is way past my time, I'm getting old I think. What I can say - from what I'm seeing here described of steam punk and diesel punk; both sound like very fun creative ventures. Its great to think different and when you rewind history and wonder what would have happened if you tipped it this way or that its open to almost endless possibilities.

Hope this doesn't sound like an ignorant question but Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - good example of diesel punk or am I whiffing it like a proper geezer?

You just found about about steam punk? Don't forget stitch punk!

Never been an animae-festival kind of guy, don't think I'll ever be. Still, I admire good creativity in things when its there .

there are a lot into steam punk in second life, I have a few very good friends that are into it

Sky Captain is 'sorta'...although the focus is on Victorian (1830-something to pre-WWI). I liked that one too...

As for full-on films, I think 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' is one of the few steampunk films..though I'm sure the Steamboy anime qualifies.

Here's a site I forgot I had; a Steampunk forum...lotsa steampunk goodness...

http://brassgoggles.co.uk/blog/

Steam punk isnt anime..anime may use it but it is not in of itself anime