In class we’ve been learning all about the steam punk aesthetics. Before this subject was introduced to me in class I didn’t know anything about it and I had only heard the word maybe once in my life. So far we’ve read leviathan and we’ve started a project called metaphor machines. Both of these activities in class have been teaching us about the steam punk world.
So I came up with a question that sparked my interest. I ask, why does the steampunk culture add metal to the Victorian style? And this is what I found.
The original inspiration for steampunk came from sci-fi stories written by Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, these stories included many characters with metal incorporated outfits.
The other side of steampunk came from the industrial revolution, a time of coal, iron and steam. From all of these different ideas, steampunk was born.
The steampunk artists are known as engineers, inventors and mad scientists. They tend to go for an industrial look, which brings in all of the metal, glass, gears, and many more materials. Now your probably wondering, why does that dress have leather and metal and why does his sleeve have gears. Well, along with the whole art and fantasy character part of steampunk, they also believe in using durable materials like I’ve already mentioned, leather, brass, wood, steel and many more. They would rather use these tougher materials instead of modern materials like plastic.
“Steampunk straddles the subtexts of both Verne and Well’s sci-fi, and Shelly and Stevenson’s gothic horrors. Steampunk is about technology. It is about science and the wonderful ness of the world when these two intersect with human intellect. It is about the dangers of creation unfettered by morality. Steampunk is also about beauty.”
-S.F. Winser
So to answer my question, the steampunk culture adds metal to the classic Victorian style because they are all ARTISTS! And inventors and scientists, they bring sci-fi/gothic stories to life. Maybe the metal on that guys arm isn’t necessary and maybe that girl doesn’t need to have gears all over her dress but it isn’t supposed to be necessary, its art.