In a previous life, I invested a more-than-reasonable amount of my time (and money) in Linden Lab’s virtual world “Second Life”. It took me a while to realise that this wasn’t, in fact, the future of the internet but it did reinforce my faith in human beings as inherently creative; the sheer breadth and scale of the landscapes, buildings, costumes, vehicles and gadgets on display in SL was staggering. And nowhere was more coherently imagined and brilliantly realised than the Independent State of Caledon and its neighbour-in-spirit, New Babbage…
Just watching that video tempts me back onto SL; so much has changed since I was last in Babbage, when it was little more than a building site.
Anyway, the point is that Second Life provided my introduction to Steampunk, an aesthetic and mythology that has fascinated me ever since.
Defined by Wikepedia, 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 set in 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 or analog computers; these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or with a presumption of functionality.”
Steampunk is a glorious nonsense, then, on every conceivable level. It is a period in history that never happened, a future that will never be. We’re used to writers and film-makers creating our imaginary worlds for us but, although both groups have had their input into it, Steampunk is a product of the internet; springing from the consensus imagination of enthusiasts all over the globe. It is the first “open-source” fantasy world and it is just a mouse-click away. I recommend you take some time out to explore it for yourself; be amused, inspired and illuminated.
Here are a few landmarks to set you on your way:
Good introductory articles can be found at the New York Times and at Wired magazine.
Steampunk Magazine is a beautifully produced, if irregular, publication dealing with all things Steampunk from fiction to interviews to costumes and design. You can download it for free in .pdf format. The illustrations alone are worth a look.
Brass Goggles is one of the pre-eminent Steampunk blogs and a great jumping-off point for further exploration, as is the Aether Emporium, a wiki-based resource. The incomparable Boing Boing also maintains a very comprehensive Steampunk section.
For practical applications, visit the fantastic Steampunk Home and Steampunk Fashion blogs and, to see true dedication to the cause, look at Steampunk Lab and The Steampunk Workshop. If after all this you, like me, are fascinated by the world of Steampunk but disinclined to wear the garb and lack the requisite craft skills to make the gadgets, stop off at the giftshop on your way back to the real world and grab a memento in the form of some free wallpaper from, you guessed it, Steampunk Wallpaper.
If you see anything on your trip you think might interest me, please let me know. One day, I’ll make a film about all this stuff.
