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What is this sub-genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery, especially in a setting inspired by industrialized Western civilization during the 19th century?
MANILA, Philippines - It is a sub-genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery, especially in a setting inspired by industrialized Western civilization during the 19th century. The works are often set in an alternate history of the 19th century’s British Victorian era or American “Wild West,” in a post-apocalyptic future during which steam power has regained mainstream use, or in a fantasy world that similarly employs steam power. The work has perhaps most recognizably features anachronistic technologies or retro-futuristic inventions as people in the 19th century might have envisioned them, and is likewise rooted in the era’s perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, and art. Such technology may include fictional machines like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or the modern authors Philip Pullman, Scott Westerfeld, and China Mieville. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of such technology as lighter-than-air airships, analog computers, or such digital mechanical computers as Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace’s Analytical Engine.
It incorporates additional elements from the genres of fantasy, horror, historical fiction, alternate history, or other branches of speculative fiction, making it often a hybrid genre. The sub-genre’s first known appearance was in 1987, though it now retroactively refers to many works of fiction created even as far back as the ‘50s or ‘60s.
It is influenced by, and often adopts the style of, the 19th-century scientific romances of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and Mary Shelley.
Several works of art and fiction significant to the development of the genre were produced before the genre had a name. The oldest precursor of this genre in film, Fritz Lang’s 1927 masterpiece, Metropolis, may be the single most important early film to represent it as an emerging stylistic genre. Titus Alone (1959), by Mervyn Peake, anticipated many of the tropes of the sub-genre. Remedios Varo’s paintings combine elements of Victorian dress, fantasy, and technofantasy imagery. One of the earliest mainstream manifestations of the sub genre ethos was the original CBS television series The Wild Wild West (1965–69), which inspired the film Wild Wild West (1999). The A Nomad of the Time Streams trilogy by Michael Moorcock, which began in 1971 with The Warlord of the Air, was also an influential precursor. The film Brazil (1985) was an important early cinematic influence toward creating the genre.
Many of the visualizations of sub-genre have their origins with, among others, Walt Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, including the design of the story’s submarine the Nautilus, its interiors, and the crew’s underwater gear; and George Pal’s 1960 film The Time Machine, with the design of the time machine itself. This theme is also carried over to Disney’s theme parks in the design of “The Mysterious Island” section of Tokyo DisneySea theme park, and Disneyland Paris’ Discoveryland area.
The design emphasizes a balance between the form and function. Like the Arts and Crafts Movement, this blurs the line between tool and decoration. Various modern utilitarian objects have been modified by enthusiasts into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical style. Example objects include computer keyboards and electric guitars. The goal of such redesigns is to employ appropriate materials (such as polished brass, iron, wood, and leather) with design elements and craftsmanship consistent with the Victorian era, rejecting the aesthetic of industrial design.
In May–June 2008, multimedia artist and sculptor Paul St George exhibited outdoor interactive video installations linking London and Brooklyn, New York, in a Victorian era-styled telectroscope. Utilizing this device, New York promoter Evelyn Kriete organized a transatlantic wave between the genre’s enthusiasts from both cities, briefly prior to White Mischief’s Around the World in 80 Days with the sub-genre themed event.
In 2009 artist Tim Wetherell created a large wall piece for Questacon representing the concept of the clockwork universe. This steel artwork contains moving gears, a working clock, and a movie of the moon’s terminator in action. The 3D moon movie was created by Antony Williams.
From October 2009 through February 2010, the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford hosted the first major exhibition of the genre’s art objects, curated and developed by New York artist and designer, Art Donovan who also exhibited his own “electro-futuristic” lighting sculptures and presented by Dr. Jim Bennett, museum director. From redesigned practical items to fantastical contraptions, this exhibition showcased the work of 18 artists from across the globe. The exhibition proved to be the most successful and highly attended in the museum’s history and attracted more than 80,000 visitors.
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Last week’s question: Who is the Pritzker prizewinning Japanese architect known for his contemporary urban architecture and spaces of public appearance like the Center for Arts in the Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco and the Floating Pavilion in Groninen?
Answer: Fumihiko Maki
Winner: Norberto Ornedo of Montelban, Rizal
