Is there a use for the Steampunk Aesthetic?

 

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]

 

I keep looking at Steampunk and wondering if there is a use for it or if it's meerely art. Art for arts sake is great, but there is such a technological component to Steampunk I have to wonder if the artistic eye has a use as well as beauty. The return to the Victorian era that wasn't seems, to me, to be largely driven by a backlash towards today's culture, or just a simple appreciation for beauty. The more I think about it, though, the more I think it offers a little more.

Steampunk is the culture of tinkerers, people who modify and retrofy(My own word) gadgets to make them beautiful. What if we took that a step further and in stead of just making things that looked steampunk made things that were functional, and steampunk in aesthetic.

The vistorian Era, which steampunk examines, despite all of it's flaws -- classism, racism, sexism, colonialism -- really did have some thing going for it. Everyone knew how their possessions worked. And many people could actually fix things. Also despite being the antithesis of our current green movements, it was green in a way. Most things were local, most people knew, or could know, the people who grew their foods.

I think we should take these aspects of the Victorian era and try to blend them into current steampunk. Let's take it beyond the aesthetic and try to turn it into a real movement. I for one am re-examining my indoor garden and seeing ways I can make it as beautiful as it is functional, a very Victorian goal.

What can you do?

Here's a great blog looking at steampunk as a modern way of life. HERE

Related Articles

• Bruce & Melanie's Steampunk Victorian House Tour (apartmenttherapy.com)


• 12 Hundred-Year-Old Submarines [Steampunk] (gizmodo.com)


• 12 Cool Steampunk Gadgets (techeblog.com)