What does the future hold for us? Technologies are more dangerous than one another. And the more perfect the technologies, the more dangerous they are for such a wretched and disharmonious creature as a human being. This was also understood two hundred years ago during the time of the Holy Inquisition, which fought against the progress of stubborn but useless cremation. Knowledge, alas, does not burn.
In the 20th century, the fear of emerging technologies has concentrated to the size of a pinhead, rammed into the brains of a select few lunatics and visionaries. The obscene union of fear and genius conceived cyberpunk - a subculture of high technology and low moral standards. In cyberpunk, the future has completely arrived. It stepped on people, crushed the paint coating of civilization and tore animal instincts to the surface.
And yet, cyberpunk, like twenty years ago, remains computer communism - a mythical future to which we all go and cannot reach in any way. New dangerous technologies are much closer than we think. Some of them even appeared in the distant past. For example, electricity. Yes, electricity gave us the world as we know it now, but just think: what kind of crazy person could come up with the idea to send lightning through the wire?! It's as crazy as building a channel to the sun, through which magma will flow down to Earth and heat new buildings in Murmansk. Or a steam engine. Hot dangerous steam moves the piston and the entire mechanical carriage! Hell, it's much safer to walk. Not to mention airships filled with highly flammable hydrogen.

Let's not peer into the cloudy crystal of the future to understand how dangerous technology is. Why imagine bioimplants, hyperhighways, cyborgs and lasers capable of splitting quarks? Take a look around. You come into this world, live and die thanks to technology. You are much more likely to die under the wreckage of a car than die from a sweet old age ... An old age caused by an ecology poisoned by progress.
It is enough to look at our world or the world of the past from a slightly different angle, allow, at least mentally, some technologies to move far ahead, dragging backward infrastructure along with them, and you will see a world that is the opposite of cyberpunk - steampunk. In which it becomes clear: do not wait for the gloomy apocalyptic future ... It is already here.
Steampunk (steam + punk, steam + punk) models a world in which such primitive technologies as the steam engine have reached their highest development. Well, or efficiency of 110%. Usually this world is stylized as the 19th century and strongly resembles Victorian England or the wild-wild West, although the shattered imagination of science fiction writers can imagine Steamworld as a completely fantasy universe. England of the mid-19th century in the imagination of the creators of steampunk looks very authentic and atmospherically depressing. Sewage flowing along the roadsides, slums inhabited by embittered factory workers, a dirty overcast sky ripped up by columns of ashy smoke from factory chimneys, prostitutes copulating with exemplary bourgeois behind the boarded-up windows of blind houses, demonic scientists creating complete chaos in the sooty basements of abandoned laboratories...

The term "steampunk" appeared in 1987 as a parody of "cyberpunk" (and therefore is sometimes considered a type of post-cyberpunk). Often, "steam" analogues were found for modern technologies: a computer - Babbage's machine, a programmer - a clacker, a robot - a winding automatic mechanism.
The publication of the novel by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling "The Difference Engine" (occurs as "The Difference Engine", "The Differential Calculator"; "The Difference Engine", 1992) attracted great attention to this genre, and it was after this novel that steampunk began to gain more and more popularity.
Typical elements of the steampunk world

Alternative Historical Steampunk:
Steam engine technologies: airship, primitive airplane, steam locomotive, steamship, armored military steamer (dreadnought), steambus, steam carriage and other mechanisms made of riveted metal and copper pipes. They are equipped with levers and instruments with hour-like dials and hands.
Weapons from the Industrial Revolution: revolvers, repeating rifles, early automatic rifles, artillery pieces, and various steam weapons.
Information technology of the Victorian era: street newspapers, resembling cash registers, non-electronic calculating machines (for example, Babbage's computer), telegraph, pneumatic mail.
Clothing and accessories of Victorian England:
Aristocrats in a top hat and a coat, under which a tailcoat, trousers and a shirt with lace.
Ladies in corsets and crinolines with a bonnet on their heads and stockings with garters on their legs.
Workers in caps, jackets and boots.
Urban entourage: red-brick factory chimneys, dirty-colored overcast skies, cobblestone pavements, street gas lamps, shops, shops, theaters, urban slums, pubs, brothels. And, accordingly, a gloomy atmosphere.
Victorian characters: demonic scientists and engineers a la Victor Frankenstein, maniac criminals like Jack the Ripper and "ideological" criminals (Professor Moriarty), travelers, Sherlock Holmes-class detectives), secret police agents, spies, revolutionaries, street vendors, proletarians , capitalist industrialists, hereditary aristocrats, secular dudes, prostitutes, respectable family citizens (bourgeois).

Fantasy Steampunk:
whose action takes place in absolutely fictional worlds, where steam engines get along well with magic and creatures familiar to fantasy. This direction in many ways borders on techno-fantasy.
The most famous author of "steam" fantasy is Briton China Mieville, who invented strange city New Crobizon. Perhaps Mieville came closest to classic cyberpunk. His heroes - often people outside the law, outside of morality - live in a strange metropolis, reminiscent of Batman's Gotham City. The technology in New Crobison is exotic, and the cycle cannot be called pure steampunk. However, today almost no one composes a “pure” steampunk ...
Paula Volsky's novel The Great Ellipse depicts a world reminiscent of Europe in the early 20th century, where there is magic, the adepts of which try in vain to resist the onslaught of science. The heroine, fearless traveler Lucille, races the Great Ellipse, a clear reference to Jules Verne. The curious world of Teresa Egerton's novels Goblin's Moon and The Dwarf Machine is inhabited by traditional magical races. Steam technology has long been a familiar feature of the landscape, and the industrial revolution is about to unleash a powerful social explosion...
Among such works, one can mention the anime Vision of Escaflowne (1996), Ironwolf comics, a series of Thief computer games that created the genre of "stealth-shooter" (conditionally - "stealth shooters"), some of the console games final fantasy, as well as the famous role-playing game Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura (from Troika Games, 2001) - an explosive mixture of fantasy and steampunk, where the main character must choose a magical or technological path of development.

"Stonepunk" (stonepunk) models the world, standing at the technological level of the Stone Age. The most striking example is the animated series and the film The Flintstones, a parody of modern American life with its transfer to prehistoric times.
Sandalpunk depicts the world of the Antiquity era, where a technological anachronism took place - the use of scientific discoveries that are impossible in reality. As a result, a future arises where the ancient Greek or Roman civilization did not collapse, but exists safely to this day. So, the steam engine, invented by Heron of Alexandria, found a real embodiment, radically changing the course of history (“Other Songs” by the Pole Jacek Dukaj). "Middlepunk" (middlepunk) - all the same, but with the beginning of the age of steam in the Middle Ages.
The creators of "clockpunk" (clockpunk) are inspired by the Renaissance and Baroque. The name comes from the use of clockwork, which in clockpunk usually replaces steam engines. For example, in Paul Macauley's Pascal's Angel, Leonardo da Vinci staged the industrial revolution 400 years ahead of schedule. Other examples of clockpunk include some of the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett, the Age of Madness cycle by Gregory Keyes, Neil Gaiman's 1602 comics.
Slightly aside from steampunk and timepunk is "retro-futurism" (retro-futurism) - the image of worlds where, by some whim of history, the real or fantastic technology of the past plays a dominant role in the future. In some worlds, technological development takes on a particularly grotesque character. For example, there are absolutely insane, impossible vehicles like space sailboats from the Disney cartoon "Treasure Planet" or a flying island from the anime "Laputa Sky Island". Vivid examples of retro-futurism also include Philip Reeve's Living Machines cycle, Theodore Judson's novel Fitzpatrick's War, and the Neotopia comic.

steampunk signs
Steampunk has characteristic features, signs and "chips" that distinguish it from other fantastic directions. First things first - the external style and atmosphere. Steampunk is Conan Doyle and Dickens in the world of steam engines. Gentlemen in top hats and ladies in crinolines gliding nonchalantly in steam cars along cobbled pavements lit by gas jets. And nearby are emaciated factory workers living in rotten slums and forced to work 20 hours a day to earn a living. Hence the typical features of the early steampunk - emphasized dystopianism with elements of noir and gothic.
This does not mean that there are no precise, compact devices in steampunk. In the role of a kind of "microelectronics" are various mechanical devices - springs, combinations of gears, rollers, drums, chains, weights. The action of steampunk devices can also be based on complex chemical reactions or even electricity (only when it is not used in engines, otherwise it will no longer be steampunk)

In steampunk, even artificial intelligence is possible - Charles Babbage's advanced computers ("differential calculator", or "difference engine"). The same Babbage designed a mechanical printer (which printed the result of the difference engine calculations on punched cards) and tried to develop a universal "analytical engine" - in fact, an ordinary computer, only mechanical.
Typical steampunk characters are aliens from the Victorian era, or rather, the modern idea of ​​​​it. Mad scientists and engineers like Victor Frankenstein and Robur the Conqueror... Genius criminals and monstrous maniacs like Professor Moriarty and Jack the Ripper... Fearless travelers and pioneers like Phileas Fogg and Alan Quatermain... Cunning detectives - Sherlock Holmes, Nat Pinkerton... Uncompromising freedom fighters, like Captain Nemo... Corrupt aristocrats and society dudes, copied from Dorian Gray or George Brummel... Spies, proletarians, greedy capitalists, prostitutes, respectable bourgeois townsfolk, homeless boys and many other iconic characters in the life and literature of that time.

Why is steampunk so attractive? First of all, its availability. Add here the romantic halo that surrounds the age of universal human naivety, belief in the triumph of reason over nature, and you will see fertile ground for mass escapism - an escape from reality into an imaginary world, away from gray and dull everyday life. Not everyone will be able to implant themselves with bioimplants (well, except for girls) or immerse themselves in the world of the Matrix. Even to assemble an army of robots in our understanding of such a technique is an impossible task for the comprehensive budget of the States. However, you can also assemble a robot according to the canons of steampunk. And then, if they could in the mossy 1885, then in the age of the iPhone, Windows Vista and cryogenetics, even children equipped with a developing designer will cope.

The Japanese, these great technological perverts, have managed to distinguish themselves here. Watchmaker Haruo Suekite is making wristwatches stylized as steampunk. Haruo Suekite's watches have many details in copper, steel, aluminum and leather. Some models are worn on the finger, not on the wrist, there are also pocket watches. Haruo Suekite only works on the exterior of the watch, using the "chassis" of Seiko and Citizen quartz watches.
German inventors are also not far behind and are ready to offer steampunk table lamps to everyone. Each of the steamlamps consists of more than 200 parts and is assembled by hand. Exclusive but details industrial production which simplifies assembly. You can even get two identical lamps, which is rare in steampunk (identity, not lamps, of course). They are expensive (although practical Germans do not immediately indicate the price for some reason), but, you see, one of these lamps would look very organically on a desktop next to ... a steampunk computer.

The next victim of modders was, do not be alarmed, the mouse. The resulting manipulator received title The Bug and is made from a bunch of old metal parts (copper alloys or copper plated steel). For example, one of the gears of an old alarm clock is used as a scroll wheel, and the buttons are actually hinge elements from an old toilet seat kit. The electronic filling is borrowed from a compact optical mouse and, if possible, is disguised, for example, the wires are enclosed in brass tubes. And instead of the standard plastic insulation, the USB cable is enclosed in a piece of parachute sling.

The Korean artist, animator and inventor Yi-Wei Huang has advanced furthest in the field of steam robot building. I-Wei assembled his first apparatus in 2005 and since then he has not been able to stop, collecting a robot per month. Yi-Wei built four- and six-wheeled vehicles, steam tanks with caterpillars, multi-legged spiders, and even a completely absurd (but workable!) Mechanism with a hundred limbs. Among the works of the inventor, artist and animator I-Wei there are also radio-controlled models, but they all work reliably on steam, while maintaining the impeccable classic appearance V victorian style. Bots work on average from 5 to 30 minutes, while managing to accelerate well in open space. With his unusual devices, I-Wei participated in the RoboGames-2006 festival, from where he returned with awards.

Article
Steam Gear
A trendy approach to lifestyle.
by Libby Bulloff

There are people who do everything for the sake of Science! raises glasses* I see clothes with lots of belts, pockets, etc. Something to protect your eyes, perhaps a lab coat or other clothing that is not afraid of dirt or grease? I picture the engineer in more practical clothes, and the inventor in a more eccentric mix of lab clothes and a slightly worn everyday suit. Find yourself a good vest or jacket with lots of pockets. Sew gears onto clothing. Carry your tools as accessories—make yourself a leather belt with pockets or slots for carrying useful tools. Remember the steampunk inventor believes in form and function! Don't forget the crazy hair, or ladies and gentlemen, forget to comb your hair before going out. Or put together some kind of hair care device, of course with a bunch of mechanical parts. Make a semblance of a mohawk with dyed tips and stick a pencil behind your ear, or pierce an eyebrow and spin some light watch gears. Look for treasures in waste stores, you may be able to find an old lab coat or rubber apron on the Internet or from friends. Glasses can be found in abundance in military supply stores, hardware stores, antiques or on Ebay Decorate your costume with parts of an old watch salvaged from antiques or repair shops.

These guys are the most punk-like of all steampunks. We're talking rags, safety pins, old leather and tattered pants. This type of clothing is functional, unpretentious, cheap, and belongs to the lowest strata of Victorian and steampunk society. She looks great dirty! Torn stockings torn at the knee, secured with a garter or pins look the best! Ladies, wear your torn skirts over a pair of breeches. Gentlemen, there is nothing sexier than suspenders over a soiled sleeveless tank top, especially if you have tattoos. Street boys are real creators and are not afraid of dirt, stains, sweat and holes. Insert a feather or some sort of pipe behind the hatband. There are absolutely no rules for you when it comes to the hairstyle you need to complete your look. Don't be afraid to experiment! Make a mohawk, or dreadlocks (synthetic or natural) tied with wires or leather laces. Style your hair or shave it completely. Don't be afraid to dye your hair crazy colors. Look for any jewelry you can find in antiques or flea markets. Rip up linen or suits found in relief supplies and sew on your pockets, patches and whatever your heart desires. Smudge t-shirts or shirts with stains, you can partially bleach black clothes. If you don't know how to sew, use pins or tie the pieces together or ask a tailor you know.

By definition, an explorer is a person who explores unknown Regions. Keep this in mind when planning your costume. Think of a tailor-made suit, but more military style than I-bought-it-in-a-fashion store. Leather, silk, linen, high boots, helmets, flying goggles - this is the list from which the explorer dances. Try wearing a mid-length skirt with a pinned-up hem to show breeches or cotton pantaloons. Wide sleeves, tight skirts with a tight leather vest or corset are a must. Take Indian or Central Asian belly dance costume motifs. Or, look for inspiration in pioneer costumes. Wrap a bunch of leather belts around your waist and hips, or use string to cinch a skirt or pants. Ladies—Search Ebay or Retro Stores for Old Fashioned Ribbon Trim Bandages Gentlemen—Tuck your pants into your boots and hang a compass or pocket watch from your waistband, or wear a kilt and sporan. Make your ray gun out of a water gun and hang that too. The explorers look good in earthy tones, but let the color pop in here and there. I'd also recommend wearing something tight beaty like velvet or wool maybe you'd prefer a military style jacket or duster. Well slicked back hair with a touch of casualness is great for gentlemen and sleek bouffant or ponytails look very cute on girls. If you grow something on your face, for God's sake. Too lazy to do hair? Effortlessly put on a flight helmet and canned goggles Search your army supply stores for uniforms, boots, eye protection, and headgear. Sew trousers or a skirt out of wool or cotton and decorate them with rings and buckles from a craft store.

There are people in well-fitting Victorian or Edwardian costumes discussing infernal machines over cigars and brandy, and there are ladies in button-down boots who act like terrorists if they don't knit mittens. It seems to me that some people who fall into this category experience Neo-Victorian nostalgia with elements of anachrotechnofetishism, while others simply pretend to be high society hiding absenteeism with strong spirits and pathos gestures. Fine spectacles or pince that can be found in antiques are a must, as well as simple corsets, handkerchiefs, cigarette cases, gloves, etc. Be sure to buy yourself a cylinder or a bowler hat. Ladies, try to put your pocket watch in your corset pocket, or better yet, try to look like a male dandy. Put on a neckerchief, vest, tailcoat, take a cane. I knew one brave lady who wore false mustaches and briolined her hair. Gentlemen, pay attention to the clothes in the style of the Japanese Gothic Aristocrat. Japanese designers have done a great job of incorporating various buckles and other metal fittings into this type of suit. Dandies know best how to accessorize - small details make the whole look. Spend some time designing your own tie, sew it from pieces of crepe or brocade, decorate the hem of your skirt with flying clocks or divorces. A pomaded mustache and gloves with cut off fingers will also work. Wear leggings over pointed shoes for a more stylish look. Pieces of watches, bottles or a bunch of vintage keys make great accessories. Go to Etsy.com and look for homemade jewelry made from glass, wires, chains. Tuck your hair under a matching top hat or bouffant and secure with large nails or chrome sticks. If this does not appeal to you, you can do a perm.

Notable works
* "Station of Lost Dreams" China Mieville 2000
* "Scar" China Mieville 2002
* Night of the Morlocks, 1979
* Difference Machine, 1990
* Daughter of the Iron Dragon and Jack/Faust by Michael Swanwick
* "Emancipator (Liberator)" trilogy, Ray Aldridge (steampunk + space opera + action: some planets are steampunk worlds
* Newton's Gun, Keys
* "Angel Pasquale or Passion for Da Vinci", P. Macauley
* "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" by C. J. Anderson (novelization of the dieselpunk movie)
* His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
* "Van Helsing", R. Kevin (novelization)
* "Long Live the Transatlantic Tunnel, Hooray!" by Harrison G.
* Moralist (Ethicist, Ethics Engineer), Book Two in the Deathworld series, 1964, Harrison G.
* Homunculus and Lord Kelvin's Machine by J. Blaylock
* "Air Warlord", "Land Leviathan" and "King of Steel" (cycle "Time Nomads") by Michael Moorcock
* “Autobahn nach Poznań”, Andrzej Zemiansky
* dilogy "Knight from nowhere" (Alexander Bushkov)
* Dilogy "Seekers of the Sky" (Cold Shores. Morning is coming.) (Sergey Lukyanenko)
* "Draft" (Sergey Lukyanenko) - one of several worlds (Kimgim) described in the work
* the trilogy "Once Upon a Time in the Wild West" (Andrey Ulanov) - steampunk technologies in the era of the frontier.

* Parts 2 and 3 of the trilogy "Blind Guides" (Evgeny and Lyubov Lukin)
o Part 2 - Stone Punk vs Conquistador Cannons
o Part 3 - a cross between sandal- and clock-punk (medieval technologies) with the simultaneous presence of secret observers with technologies at the level of dieselpunk

Steampunk films
* Wild Wild West (1999)
* "Van Helsing" (2004)
* "Time Machine" (2002)
* "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" (2004) (dieselpunk)
* "Lemony Snicket: 33 misfortunes"
* "Brazil"
* The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
* "Golden Compass"
* City of Lost Children (1995)
* Mutant Chronicles (2008)

Animation
* "Full Metal Alchemist" (2003)
* "Rusty Red" (2008)
* "Steam Detectives" (1998)
* Steamboy (2005)
* "Wolf's Rain"
* "Animatrix: The Story of a Detective"
* "Exile / Last Exile"
* Castle in the Sky Laputa (1986)
* Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
* "The Secret of Back Cap Island / Vynález zkázy" (1958)
* "The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello" (2005)
* Treasure Planet

Steampunk games
* Arcanum
* "Dreamfall: The Longest Journey"
*Frater
* "Silverfall"
* "Syberia"
* "Syberia II"
* Thief
* "Thief II: Metal Age"
* Thief III: Deadly Shadows
* Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends (Clockpunk)
* "Blood omen 2"
* "Bioshock" (dieselpunk + biopunk)
* "Steam brigade"
* "Road to Hon-Ka-Du (Steamland)"
* "Russian Roulette 2 - Closed Planets" (multipunk)
* "TimeShift" (dieselpunk)
* "Para World"
* "No Time for Dragons"
* "American McGee's Alice"
* Sudeki
* "Myst" (with sequels)
* "Sublustrum"
* "Warhammer Fantasy Battles" (Empire, Skaven Clan Skryre, Tilea)

The power of mechanisms

Steampunk is a new trend in design. This style is not yet very well known and not very widespread, but the ranks of its admirers are growing day by day. The features of steampunk can be traced in the art of the entire 20th century, but it was not until the late 80s that it had a name. Next, the characteristics of this current were determined and systematized. They started talking about him, they began to pay attention to him, he had an army of fans. arose a new style. However, as everyone knows very well, the new is the well-forgotten old. Steampunk was born not born, but reborn.

Steampunk - retro futuristic style. Someone will say: yes, this is a combination of the incongruous! Either it's retro with pictures of the past, or it's a look into a fantastic future. Can these two worlds become one? They can, and an example of this is steampunk!

The retro component of steampunk is a stylization of the Victorian era, an imitation of the reality of the second half of the 19th century. Futurism lies in fantasies about the development of so-called steam technologies. What would the world look like if the steam engine remained the main one?

Steampunk is pictures of a fantastic future from the point of view of a representative of the Victorian era. The people of the 19th century saw prospects not in electronics, but in mechanics. Therefore, their imaginary robots are, in fact, large clockwork toys. The vehicles of the future are advanced airships, airplanes, steam locomotives and fast cars powered by steam and electronic engines.

Steampunk reflects an alternative future - the way a man from the 19th century saw it.

The main characteristics of steampunk: sci-fi, urban, industrial, combining retro and futurism.

Sources of inspiration: industrial revolution of the 19th century, pictures of an industrial city, works of science fiction of that time. First of all, these are books by Jules Verne with his love for various kinds of mechanisms.

Steampunk style in details and materials

Materials: steel, copper, brass, bronze, darkened wood, brick, leather.

Key: sepia, soot, smoke, smog.

Details: gears, levers, springs, rollers, cylinders, etc. Objects resembling an airship, a car, a steam locomotive.

Steampunk style in art

The time of action in the works can be both the 19th century and the present day. Or even the distant future. After all, the main thing is the characteristic atmosphere and mechanisms.

It is believed that the first bright examples steampunk (or retrofuturism) films were Metropolis in 1927 and Brazil in 1985. Just shortly after "Brazil", the current got a name. But whether these films specifically relate to steampunk is an open question for many. Be that as it may, the style itself became more and more popular.

A considerable number of new films reproduce the atmosphere of steampunk: for example, The Prestige (2006), Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, Around the World in 80 Days (2004). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003). In some steampunk films, only the entourage (urbanism, gloom, smoke, steam engines), while others focus on technology, including fantastic ones.

From computer games stand out the so-called quests based on riddles and puzzles with various details and mechanisms. Luxurious representative of the steampunk style - legendary game "Siberia", created by the famous Benoit Sokal. There is a lot from steampunk here: the gloom of the atmosphere, the effect of soot, mechanical toys and robots, a real clockwork train. Artist Sokal combined art nouveau and steampunk styles in the game, because at the end of the Victorian era, art nouveau was just coming into vogue. The result of the combination of these styles is a magnificent fantasy world, addictive and exciting.

One of the interiors, combining steampunk and art nouveau, drawn by the creator of the game Siberia

Steampunk in Siberia

Steampunk has also found expression in fashion. Many admirers of vintage outfits found themselves in the ranks of adherents of this style. Crinolines, corsages, top hats, leather and suede jackets and pants, studded belts, long gloves, retro goggles for driving - it's all steampunk. Toilets are complemented by many details, such as rivets, buttons, zippers, belt fasteners, pockets, metal spikes and decorative overlays.

Steampunk style in the interior

Steampunk interiors- brutal, youth, conceptual. Steampunk décor is most suitable for decorating boys' rooms, bachelor's quarters and apartments of young couples who are passionate about retro fantasy.

steampunk colors

Steampunk is accompanied by soot and smoke, so the colors are mostly dark: gray, black, dirty brick, rusty. The use of other colors, of course, is not forbidden, but it is preferable that they be smoky shades: not blue, but smoky blue, not, but "Mounbatten". The presence of the color of steel, copper, brass or bronze is desirable.

Steampunk boy's room

Steampunk dressing room

Steampunk in the interior: materials

Most suitable species finishes - this is, a board, the preservation of a "bare" concrete wall, rough plaster, stone, floor tiles with imitation of a cobblestone pavement. This urban set can be spruced up with checkered, striped, or gear-and-spring-like wallpaper.

If art nouveau and steampunk styles are combined, the place will be luxuriously finished with wood paneling and parquet.

Steampunk furniture

Sofas, armchairs, chairs - leather, including those with rivets. Elements in the Victorian style will fit in perfectly - for example, leather, wooden bureau, etc.

Many pieces of furniture can be forged: tables, chairs, beds. An iron cabinet will be a good purchase for an interior in the steampunk style. The kitchen set can be covered, lined with steel. Radial facades also emphasize the futurism of the chosen direction.

Steampunk interiors look authentic with riveted furniture (wooden, leather or wicker), as well as colonial-style items. Accessories - colors of brass, copper, bronze.

Steampunk style in the interior of the nursery

Steampunk decor

One of the main symbols of steampunk and the main element of decoration- it's a gear. She is present everywhere. Walls, furniture and decor items are decorated with decorative gears. They also create original panels.

Elements that repeat the shape of an airship are typical: it can be a ceiling structure, lamps, and original ashtrays. It is possible to actively use any items similar to the parts of a steam engine, car, steam locomotive or submarine.

Wall, floor and table clocks are another important style item. The design of the watch is complicated by many additional details.

The following items will help create a steampunk atmosphere:

• valve-shaped door handles
• antique globes
• huge round wall clock
• round false windows imitating a porthole
• riveted chests
• chubby refrigerator in vintage style
• wall retro telephones
• any antique machinery, including, for example, a radio or gramophone
• posters and photos in sepia
• toy railroad
• various objects made of wood and metal with rivets

Steampunk panel

Many fans of this style have an interesting hobby - they give a steampunk look to modern items. Such, for example, as a laptop, TV, toaster. The design is based on a combination of vintage and futuristic. The objects look old, but at the same time they seem to be stuffed with a lot of incomprehensible mechanisms. As if they were made in a factory from an alternative future. Having chosen the steampunk style for decorating your home, you can also get carried away with this interesting activity.

Steampunk is a fantasy genre about worlds where steam engines and other retro technologies have not disappeared, but have reached the highest development.

A huge tin robot walks the streets of London. In his riveted head is the control compartment, where a mad scientist in pince-nez and a tuxedo sits. He pedals, pulls on the levers, trying to get the car away from the approaching airship with the emblem of the British Air Force on board. The airship is uncontrollable and is clearly going to ram. He suffered from a discharge from a Tesla emitter mounted on a German steam tank, which secretly moved here along the bottom of the English Channel and is about to break through to Buckingham Palace. The Queen is protected by a select platoon of Scottish magicians under the command of Sherlock Holmes, the brave Van Helsing and the Invisible Man. It's all steampunk.

The classic steampunk universes are stylized by the authors as America or Europe (primarily England) of the second half of the 19th century, the era of early capitalism with a characteristic factory-urban landscape and sharp social stratification. And it does not matter that the action can unfold in the distant future or on another planet. Steampunk originated as literary genre, but gained popularity largely thanks to comics, role-playing games, television series and anime.

The best movies, books and more in the steampunk genre

Many people think of steampunk as such.

Don't boil over, punks!

The first question that may arise here is why, in fact, “punk”? As in the case of cyberpunk (see "MF" No. 6, February 2004), the second part of the title means only that the works of this subgenre of fiction are based on "punk" ideas in their most general sense.

In other words, the word "punk" in such cases does not mean evil hooligans with multi-colored hair and "Anarchy" tattoos on their foreheads, but characters - bright individualists who oppose the system, traditions, prejudices, and put themselves above any state or public institutions.

The Difference Engine by Gibson and Sterling: one of the first books to be called steampunk.

The term "steampunk" was first used by two fellow writers James Blaylock and Kevin Jeter during a discussion in the pages of Locus magazine in 1987. The term arose as a parodic opposition to cyberpunk, so early steampunk was created according to the traditional scenarios of its "big brother" with a mechanical transfer of action to reality, where steam technology is in charge. Hackers, artificial intelligence, corporations, the state machine - it all just fit into a 19th century setting with a discount on the appropriate technology. The "punk" attitude of the main characters to the surrounding reality was preserved without any significant changes.

I would be glad if labels were not hung on it (the book "The Difference Machine" - "MF"). I heard talk about some kind of “steampunk”, but I don’t think it will take root.

Bruce Sterling

The first steampunk works were a manifesto of social and philosophical pessimism and in this sense were no different from cyberpunk. Most often, the story unfolded in some not very prosperous "alternative" universe (equivalent to Europe or the USA of the 19th century).

The dystopia was embellished with noir style, expressive and generally understandable motives of tabloid fiction were added to it (nosy detectives, brilliant scientists, the Wild West, mysterious ancient races) - and the new genre is ready! Later, more positive elements poured into steampunk - the romantic charm of science, utopianism, the aesthetics of "good old England". This is how we know him now.

On full steam

We figured out the "punk" - but what about the steam? Unlike cyberpunk, steampunk is based on real or at least conditionally acceptable technologies. The level of development of science in steampunk traditionally focuses on the Victorian era. First of all, the extensive use of steam energy should be mentioned here - this gave the name to the whole genre.

Eolipil. Heron built it as a toy, not intending to put it into practice.

Strictly speaking, the energy of steam was conquered not by the British, but by the Greeks. As early as the 1st century AD, Heron of Alexandria created the aeolipil (“ball of Eol” - the god of the wind) - a metal ball rotating under steam pressure.

Whether it’s a coincidence or not, but 700 years before that, in the same Greece (on the island of Corinth), the so-called “diolkos” was built - parallel tracks cut in limestone for transporting ships on dry land (the prototype of the modern railway). These inventions were not related to each other in any way, but it can be argued that the Greeks had a theoretical opportunity to develop steam rail transport almost 2000 years before this happened. It is this circumstance that makes the existence of "archaic" varieties of steampunk legitimate.

Who created the steam engine is difficult to decide. At various times, Thomas Savery (1698), Thomas Newcomen (1712) and James Watt worked on it (with varying success). The latter went down in history as the "inventor" of the steam engine (he patented it in 1769), but in fact he simply improved the devices created before him. Separately, the Russian serf mechanic Ivan Polzunov should be mentioned - he created a steam engine in 1764, and, unlike Watt, he made it from scratch, without having working samples before his eyes.

If we define steampunk as a period of active use of steam engines, then its beginning will be 1707, when French physicist Denis Papin designed the first steam-powered boat. Very little is known about her - river ferrymen quickly sensed competition and broke the apparatus.

Steamboat Claremont. The first "swallow" of the steam fleet.

Large-scale commercial use of steam engines began in 1807 with the passenger steamer Claremont, built by the American Robert Fulton. The enterprise turned out to be unexpectedly profitable, and the steamers were tenacious. Within ten or fifteen years, they seriously pressed sailing ships.

As for the "land" steam engines, the palm here should be given to Nicolas Joseph Cugno (1725-1804). It was he who in 1769 guessed to put a steam boiler on a cart to carry heavy guns. His "fardier a vapeur" (steam cart) could carry a load of four tons and reach speeds of up to 4 kilometers per hour. In 1771, Cugno's "steam cart" accidentally crashed into a wall. It was the first road traffic accident in the world involving a "car".

The English inventor Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) continued Cugno's work and in 1801 presented to the public the "Puffing Devil" - the first compact steam car designed to transport people, and two years later - the more successful "London steam carriage".

In 1804, Trevithick created the world's first steam locomotive, which worked for only a few years (it quickly made the rails unusable, as it was too heavy for tracks designed for small "horse-driven" cars).

Steam locomotives and steamships not only brought cities and continents closer to each other. Their power at the time seemed incredible. In just a hundred years, science has made such a leap forward that people who rode horses in their youth and did not even dream of seeing other countries could now repeat Magellan's journey in just a few months. It seemed as if there were no more barriers for mankind.

Steam cars required time to warm up, had poor acceleration dynamics, but on long stretches they could reach speeds of over 150 km/h. For example, the car Stanley Steamer in 1906 accelerated to 205.5 km / h.

But the steam engine reigned on the planet for only a little over 150 years. By the end of World War II, he irrevocably lost leadership to internal combustion engines. Steampunk did not take place, and it was inevitable. Why? The reasons for this are purely practical.

Yes, steam engines have their advantages. They are indiscriminate to the source of heat and can generate mechanical power on almost any fuel. Another advantage of steam engines is their insensitivity to pressure changes. This was discovered only when steam locomotives on high-altitude flights were replaced by diesel locomotives. When climbing to a considerable height, the latter sharply lost power. Today, steam locomotives still run in the mountains of Switzerland and Austria.

However, steam engines have one - the most important - drawback that crosses out all the advantages. Their coefficient useful action(COP) is only 5%, while internal combustion engines operate at 25% efficiency. That is why at the beginning of the 20th century steam engines lost the competition with diesel engines - they were wasteful of heat, were too heavy (unsuitable for installation on aircraft) and could not provide high power with a significant reduction in size.

The Queen Elizabeth, built in 1938, was the largest steamship in the world.

In 1800, Robert Fulton created the world's first full-fledged submarine, the Nautilus, for Napoleon Bonaparte.

In honor of one of the main designers of the first steam engine, a unit of power is named in all areas of physics and technology.

The absolute speed record for steam locomotives was set by the locomotive " Wild duck» LNER Class A4 series (with its streamlined shape, it looked more like modern Japanese super trains). On July 3, 1938, he developed 201.2 kilometers per hour.

Steampunk machines - Fulton's "Nautilus" and "Wild Duck".

Victoria and her era

Queen Victoria is the "grandmother" of steampunk.

In relation to steampunk, they often say - "Victorian era" ... But what is it? This refers to the British Empire in the period from 1837 to 1901 - the reign of Queen Victoria, an era of tranquility, prosperity, consolidation of power in the colonies. By the end of the 19th century, Britain was the most powerful state in the world. Its population was over 500 million people (about a quarter of all mankind), the area of ​​\u200b\u200bterritories was over 37 million square kilometers (about a third of the entire land mass of the Earth). , the opening of the London Underground (1863), electric street lighting (1882) ... People were literally intoxicated with faith in the infinite power of rational thinking. In other words, the era of steampunk began - it began, but it never began.

Where did it come from?

Steampunk did not appear out of nowhere. Jules Verne is called the “grandfather” of the genre (read the article about him in the Book Row section), whose “20 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea”, “Robur the Conqueror”, “Steam House” had a serious impact on the style and surroundings of contemporary authors. As well as the books of other famous writers of the Victorian era - Herbert Wells, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle. That is why Western critics attribute the selected works of these authors to the "classic" steampunk.

The next step is "proto-steampunk", the authors of which, modern science fiction, for the sake of aesthetics, they were stylized as classics of the 19th century. Ronald Clarke's Queen Victoria Bomb, Christopher Priest's Space Engine, Tim Powers' Gate of Anubis, James Blaylock's Homunculus, Kevin Wayne Jeter's Morlock Night, and Long Live the Transatlantic Tunnel, hooray, stand out here. Harry Harrison. Worth noting is Michael Moorcock's cycle about Oswald Bastable, written in the tradition of Jules Verne.

IN Lately steampunk is interpreted extremely broadly, meaning by it any variant of the placement of modern (pseudo-modern) technologies in the past - from the Stone Age to the Victorian era. Everything that is now called “steampunk” can be divided into two broad categories: alternative historical (original) steampunk and fantasy steampunk.

Alternative historical steampunk

Such steampunk is stylized as the world of the 19th - early 20th centuries and deliberately opposed to the cybernetic present and future. Often the heroes of AI-steampunk are real historical figures or literary characters of the classics of that era.

The author's stylizations under England of the reign of Queen Victoria and her successor Edward are most characteristic. A landmark work, after which steampunk turned from a curiosity into a phenomenon, is the novel by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling "The Difference Machine" (1992). This is in fact the manifesto of steampunk, which had the same meaning for him as Gibson's "Neuromancer" for cyberpunk. It features such iconic things as Babbage's Difference Engine turned into a supercomputer, advanced communication technologies, the assignment of a unique digital index to all subjects of the British Empire, "machine" viruses on punched cards and global political intrigues. It's funny that it was the leading authors of cyberpunk who decided to describe England in the 19th century, where Charles Babbage managed to build a proto-computer, as if in passing breathed life into a new fantastic direction. As a result, cyberpunk has long been dead, but steampunk blooms and smells ...

The comics of Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill about the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, as well as the film adaptation of the same name by Stephen Norrington, serve as an example of AI steampunk. Before us is an alternative England of 1898, the peace of which is guarded by the famous heroes of classical literary works like the Invisible Man and the Pathfinder Alan Quatermain. Their opponents are also traditional - the criminal community of Dr. Fu-Manchu, the Martians of Wells, the megalomaniac Professor Moriarty. The entourage of the steampunk is perfectly conveyed in Lemony Snickett's children's fantasy cycle "33 Misfortunes" and especially in the film of the same name by Brad Silberling.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The comic had every character from the Victorian era, from Professor Moriarty to Dr. Moreau.

Steam technology in AI steampunk can be dominated by the natural course of events or introduced by force. For example, in the world of the role-playing game Space: 1889 (a parody of the TV series Space: 1999), the great inventor Thomas Edison discovered new properties of the ether, thanks to which it was possible to build steam ether flyers that could overcome space. And after a special lichen with anti-gravity properties was found on Mars, giant airships filled the skies above the Earth and its planetary colonies.

But in the trilogy "The Great Winter" by Australian Sean McMullen, the situation is different. 40th century, the Earth is oppressed by artificial intelligence, which has imposed a ban on advanced technologies, because of which humanity has been thrown back in development for thousands of years. In the beginning, people used steam engines, which were replaced by machines powered by solar and wind energy. Everything electronic is ruthlessly destroyed...

Comic book hero wonderful worlds Finneas Fuddle", having invented a time machine in 1902, immediately rushed to introduce steam technology and Victorian morality into different eras- ancient Egypt, India, medieval Europe. This caused the chronoclasm and changed history.

Another model of AI-steampunk is the stylization of America during the conquest of the Wild West. The television series Wild Wild West gained great popularity, which served as the basis for a beautiful but overly pompous movie by Barry Sonnenfeld and several comic book series. Dashing gunslinger Jim West and tech innovator Artemius Gordon carry out assignments for the President of the United States, constantly encountering power-hungry and greedy scoundrels.

Slightly less well known are the television series The Adventures of Briscoe County, Jr. and Legend. The cool marshal of the County is chasing criminals, intersecting with crazy inventors who will either build a jet engine or invent a superbomb. And in the "Legend" the author of penny books Ernest Pratt, together with the clever Bartok in 1876, is fighting various villains, for which they use a bunch of steam gadgets. The western steampunk style was also used in the third part of the Back to the Future movie cycle.

Fantastic Western "Back to the Future 3". For the first time in history, the poster for this film was drawn on a computer.

In literature, Western steampunk is less common - mostly novelizations of the aforementioned series and films. Most notable independent work- James Swallow's tetralogy about the shooter Gabriel Tyler, who, together with the Native American shaman Five Feathers, confronts the villain Faceless.

Other popular works of traditional AI steampunk include Steven Baxter's Anti-Ice, Kevin Jeter's Infernal Machines, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright and The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne comics (filmed as a television series in 2002), Forgotten role-playing games Futures and GURPS Steampunk.

In Russia, the “Lady of the Seas” by Sergei Sinyakin can be attributed to the traditional AI steampunk. No Time for Dragons by Sergei Lukyanenko and Nick Perumov borders on fantasy steampunk, although it is still more adventurous and heroic techno-fantasy. The protagonist of the novel, Muscovite Victor, finds himself in the magical Middle World, where the elements of the other two worlds rule - the magic of the World of the Reborn and the technology of the World of the Upside Down. The New Russian Series company is working on a film adaptation of this book (they promise to release the film in 2007), and the Arise studio is making a computer role-playing game based on it.

It's funny that Western sources call the film "The Barber of Siberia" by Nikita Mikhalkov as an example of "Russian steampunk"! There is also a hefty logging steam engine that never existed in reality!

fantasy steampunk

The second mainstream is fantasy steampunk, which takes place in absolutely fictional worlds, where steam engines get along well with magic and creatures familiar to fantasy. This direction in many ways borders on techno-fantasy.

The most famous author of "steam" fantasy is Briton China Mieville, who invented the strange city of New Crobizon. Perhaps Mieville came closest to classic cyberpunk. His heroes - often people outside the law, outside of morality - live in a strange metropolis, reminiscent of Batman's Gotham City. The technology in New Crobison is exotic, and the cycle cannot be called pure steampunk. However, almost no one composes a “pure” steampunk ...

Paula Volsky's novel The Great Ellipse depicts a world reminiscent of Europe in the early 20th century, where there is magic, the adepts of which try in vain to resist the onslaught of science. The heroine, fearless traveler Lucille, races the Great Ellipse, a clear reference to Jules Verne. The curious world of Teresa Egerton's novels Goblin's Moon and The Dwarf Machine is inhabited by traditional magical races. Steam technology has long been a familiar feature of the landscape, and the industrial revolution is about to unleash a massive social explosion...

Among such works, one can mention the anime Vision of Escaflowne (1996), the Ironwolf comics, the Thief series of computer games that created the stealth-shooter genre (conditionally - "stealth shooters"), some of the Final Fantasy console games, as well as the famous role-playing game Arcanum : Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura (from Troika Games, 2001) - an explosive mixture of fantasy and steampunk, where the main character must choose a magical or technological path of development.

Arcanum is perhaps the most famous game based on fantasy steampunk.

Speaking of tabletop role-playing games, we should mention Castle Falkenstein, developed by R. Talsorian Games and later adapted for the GURPS system. In 1994, this game received prestigious award origin. In addition, Eberron, a new the official universe Dungeons & Dragons.

Other faces of steam fantasy: the films Edward Scissorhands, Van Helsing and Vidocq, the novel Elizabel Cray and the Dark Brotherhood by Chris Wooding… These works belong to different directions, they are united only by worlds where magic and mysticism coexist with alternative technology.

steampunk signs

Steampunk has characteristic features, signs and "chips" that distinguish it from other fantastic directions. First things first - the external style and atmosphere. Steampunk is Conan Doyle and Dickens in the world of steam engines. Gentlemen in top hats and ladies in crinolines gliding nonchalantly in steam cars along cobbled pavements lit by gas jets. And nearby - emaciated factory workers living in rotten slums and forced to work hard for 20 hours a day to earn a piece of bread. Hence the typical features of the early steampunk - emphasized anti-utopianism with elements of noir and gothic.

A characteristic feature of steampunk is steam technology. Means of transportation: an airship, a steam locomotive, a steamboat, a steam bus, a steam car, a password - everything is made of sheet metal with huge rivets, emphatically clumsy levers and control devices with an abundance of dials. Mechanisms are covered with oil and soot, spewing smoke, steam, sparks, they rumble, clang, whistle, and when overheated, they explode. Weapons: bulky Lefochet revolvers, massive Thompson and Gatling machine guns, monstrous dreadnoughts, artillery pieces and bombs. Information technology: telegraph, pneumatic mail, old-fashioned telephones.

A surviving fragment of Babbage's Difference Engine.

This is not to say that there are no precise, compact devices in steampunk. In the role of a kind of "microelectronics" are various mechanical devices - springs, combinations of gears, rollers, drums, chains, weights. Steampunk devices can also be based on complex chemical reactions or even electricity (only when it is not used in engines, otherwise it will no longer be steampunk) - for example, the famous Tesla devices, which we talked about in April 2005 ("MF » No. 20).

In steampunk, even artificial intelligence is possible - Charles Babbage's advanced computers ("differential calculator", or "difference engine"). The same Babbage designed a mechanical printer (which printed the results of the calculations of the difference machine on punched cards) and tried to develop a universal "analytical engine" - in fact, an ordinary computer, only mechanical.

Typical steampunk characters are aliens from the Victorian era, or rather, the modern concept of it. Mad scientists and engineers like Victor Frankenstein and Robur the Conqueror... Genius criminals and monstrous maniacs like Professor Moriarty and Jack the Ripper... Fearless travelers and pioneers like Phileas Fogg and Alan Quatermain... Cunning detectives - Sherlock Holmes, Nat Pinkerton...

Uncompromising freedom fighters, like Captain Nemo... Corrupt aristocrats and secular dudes, copied from Dorian Gray or George Brummel... Spies, proletarians, greedy capitalists, prostitutes, respectable bourgeois townsfolk, homeless boys and many other iconic characters of the life and literature of that time.

Weird scientists are typical steampunk characters (frame from the movie "City of Lost Children").

However, steampunk is often referred to as works in which there is no steam technology at all. The attention of the authors is focused on the atmosphere, the external surroundings, the emphasized aesthetics of the Victorian era and neo-Gothic - this is " atmospheric steampunk". The films "Young Sherlock Holmes" and "City of Lost Children", the novels "Lord Kelvin's Machine" by James Blaylock and "The Werewolf in London" by Brian Stableford are all examples of atmospheric steampunk.

Steampunk as a way of life

The steampunk aesthetic turned out to be so attractive that it led to the birth of a subculture with the advent of its own fashion, design, even music. The steampunk movement, especially popular in Japan and also known as "neo-Victorianism", combines the aesthetic principles of the Victorian era with a passion for modern technology.

Steampunk fashion is a synthesis of gothic, punk and industrial styles with some elements of Victorianism. For women - garters, corsets, skirts with ruffles. The men have large, rough metal rivets on their clothes, high-heeled boots with huge clasps. Musical steampunk - atmospheric melodies that make the listener feel like they are in the late 19th century.

Timepunk: Not Quite Genres

Cover of the GURPS Steampunk book.

The rules of the role-playing system GURPS (Generic Universal RolePlaying System), created by Steve Jackson Games in 1986, proposed a complex classification of "punk" worlds. The creators of the game unite them under the general term "timepunk" (timepunk), which refers to any alternative technological worlds focused on different historical periods development of civilization.

The dominance of steam technology in the worlds of timepunk is not necessary: ​​anything from golems to dinosaurs can be the propulsive technopower.

Note: genres these "punks" should not be called - rather, it is entourage options.

Stonepunk models the world standing at the technological level of the Stone Age. The most striking example is the animated series and the film "The Flintstones", a parody of modern American life with its transfer to prehistoric times.

Sandalpunk (sandalpunk) depicts the world of the Antiquity era, where a technological anachronism occurred - the use of scientific discoveries that are impossible in reality. As a result, a future arises where the ancient Greek or Roman civilization did not collapse, but exists safely to this day. So, the steam engine, invented by Heron of Alexandria, found a real embodiment, radically changing the course of history (“Other Songs” by the Pole Jacek Dukaj).

Middlepunk (middlepunk)- all the same, but with the beginning of the century, a couple in the Middle Ages.

Clockpunk (clockpunk) inspired by the Renaissance and Baroque. The name comes from the use of clockwork, which in clockpunk usually replaces steam engines. For example, in Paul Macauley's Pascal's Angel, Leonardo da Vinci staged the industrial revolution 400 years ahead of schedule. Other examples of clockpunk include some of the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett, the Age of Madness cycle by Gregory Keyes, Neil Gaiman's 1602 comics.

Real or remaining only in the project technology in retrofuturistic universes can be embodied in the traditions of gigantomania: huge propeller-driven aircraft, transcontinental airships, giant diesel robots, monstrous-looking mechanisms. This offshoot of retro-futurism is known as dieselpunk (dieselpunk). The term appeared during the creation of the computer RPG Children of the Sun. The most striking examples of dieselpunk are the anime "Exile" (see "MF" No. 18, February 2005) and the film "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow". We wrote about dieselpunk in detail in December 2004 (MF #16).

Steampunk and similar styles are aesthetic direction retrofuturism (retro-futurism)- the depiction of worlds where, by some whim of history, the real or fantastic technology of the past plays a dominant role in the future. In some worlds, technological development takes on a particularly grotesque character. For example, there are absolutely insane, impossible vehicles like space sailboats from the Disney cartoon "Treasure Planet" or a flying island from the anime "Laputa Sky Island". Vivid examples of retrofuturism also include Philip Reeve's Living Machines cycle, Theodore Judson's novel Fitzpatrick's War, and the Neotopia comic book.

Anime series "The Exile".

steampunk robots

In 1893, the American professor Archibald Campion introduced the world to the incredible mechanical robot named Boilerplate. Very little is known about this device. He was allegedly created to participate in combat operations, showed signs of intelligence and could perform complex actions. Unfortunately, Boilerplate disappeared on the fields of the First World War in 1918, and its creator died in obscurity...

Did you believe? In vain. Boilerplate is one hundred percent, very high quality fake. The authors of this project spent a lot of time editing photos and creating a detailed "biography" of the robot in order to clearly illustrate a simple fact: you should not believe everything that you find on the World Wide Web. By the way, you can find the details of the legend about this robot on the Internet at: bigredhair.com/boilerplate.

The robot and its creator.

To the left of the robot is the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa (photo from 1916).

Steampunk is getting more and more popular every year. No wonder - in our crazy time, the smooth 19th century is perceived by many as a safe harbor, the "golden era" lost by mankind, when the grass was greener and the water was wetter. The passion for steampunk, as well as fantasy, is a typical sign of mass escapism. The more hectic today's time is, the more there will be those who want to "escape" to a stylish alternative world.
Steampunk is interesting for its unusualness. It provides a new field for stylistic decisions and plot maneuvers.

The synthesis of antiquity and high technology is of interest to fans of both fantasy and science fiction. So, we will meet with steampunk more than once.

Large round glasses in a copper frame, a copper bracelet on his arm, a phone in a copper case, which is an amazing design of buttons and levers - a lot says a lot about the passion for steampunk in the guise of Dmitry Tikhonenko. True, the master himself learned about the fashionable direction after he created many of his works from copper.

From 28 to 30 July in English city Whitby hosted the annual steampunk weekend, which is held by representatives of the subculture and cosplayers. Steampunk is a genre of science fiction that focuses on an imaginary alternative vector of human development, the starting point of which was the invention of the steam engine. The participants of the festival come in costumes stylized after the era of Victorian England and early capitalism.

A talented sculptor from Krasnoyarsk, Igor Verniy, creates birds, butterflies and other representatives of the animal world, using parts of old household appliances, bicycles, cars, watch parts and everything that can be safely thrown into scrap metal.

In the world there are a huge number of the most unusual musical instruments, made in both classical and completely unexpected styles.

In this photo collection you will see some very unusual steampunk musical instruments!

Damaged bikes, broken watches and anything that can't be repaired, we throw away right away. The artist and sculptor Igor Verny, on the other hand, creates real works of art from these objects. He makes fantastic steampunk animals from ordinary metal: from old car parts, dishes, and even from household appliances.

“Deep down I am an artist and I see the beauty of this world in bright colors, but I am also a mechanic,” says Igor. “And it is these two qualities that help me create.”

We admire the work of the artist and have chosen for you his best sculptures from scrap metal.

Mechanical Fantasies by Justin Gershenson-Gates is a series of works by a famous jeweler who decided to deviate a little from his main occupation and do something else.

For his works, Justin used watch parts (hands, gears, ordinary incandescent lamps and much more). Each work, be it a pendant, an insect or an arthropod, takes the master several hours. Given the fact that Justin Gershenson-Gates (Justin Gershenson-Gates) is used to seeing things through to the end, he never leaves the job unfinished and gets everything done in one sitting. In the work uses only soldering and no glue. "Mechanical Mind" is a truly unique and inimitable series from a famous jeweler.

Japanese sculptor Michihiro Matsuoka creates interesting miniature sculptures. Combining the images of animals and technology into one whole, he turns them into aircraft and floating objects.

Pierre Matter was born in 1964. A mathematician by profession, he was looking for his true calling for a long time, wandering along the paths of art. He tried his hand at painting, painted pictures oil paints, poster paints and watercolors. But he found himself in sculpture. French master Pierre Matter works in the spirit of steampunk, creating his sculptures, which are hybrids of machines, people and animals.

I can’t even believe that from an ordinary CD player you can create such a miracle as the master did for the steampunker.ru website contest

Steampunk (or steampunk)- a term born from the English words "steam" and "punk". With the word "steam" - "steam", everything is crystal clear - it is fundamental to the genre. Steam technology rules the world! Imagine, at the end of the 19th century, a Babbage machine was built, the size of St. Paul's Cathedral, a technocratic society is divided into classes and, in addition to believing in God as such (which is not at all necessary), believes in God in a machine. And this machine is controlled by steam, which makes it the main life force that feeds the universe. Steam locomotives, airships, steamed ATVs, mechanized implants - steam reality.


An example of a mechanized steampunk implant by Maker-hs



Steampunk Technique - "Steam Mustang" by inkubus

It is much more difficult to define the word “punk”. Consider 2 hypotheses:

1. "This world is rotten to the core"

Fans of the genre who promote this view of steampunk interpret the word “punk” literally, that is, as “rebel” and “rot”. This shows some solidarity with the older brother of steampunk - cyberpunk. In this case, the class stratification of society is not just there - it is critical. Classes are at war with each other, there are rebel wars for a better life and criminal wars for the best place under the sun. The aristocracy and the bourgeoisie are pompous and courteous, the lower classes are poor and dangerous in their desperate struggle for survival. This is also reflected in appearance inhabitants of the world - leather corsets and vinyl boots with iron stilettos are combined with classic crinolines, an evening top hat with a torn kilt. The maximum of rebellious, punk aesthetics - that's what distinguishes the adherents of this view of steampunk.

2. "God save the Queen"

During the reign of Queen Victoria in England, technological revolution which led the kingdom to prosperity. But imagine for a moment that good old England does not stop there and turns into a steam power - a monopolist. Gradually, other countries are also embarking on a new path of development. What is "Victorian" steampunk? This is our history and our reality, but alternative (the word “punk” means “deviant”, “alternative”). In our reality, Miss K. from Liverpool, morning tea is brought by the maid Nancy, in the steampunk reality, it is the automaton maid N-C16. In our reality, Mr. N goes to watch boxing on weekends, in the steam robot battle reality. The costumes of such an alternative world do not differ much from the costumes of the 19th-early 20th centuries of our universe, but they have the obligatory attributes and accessories of the "steam" society - mechanical devices, ladies' jewelry of the appropriate design. I must say that the “Victorian” steampunk gentleman will put on goggles (such glasses) if he decides, for example, to famously ride in his car with a steam engine, but he will not wear goggles everywhere, because this is nonsense and mauvais ton, akin to appearing at a ball in a chef's apron.




It is worth mentioning the point of view that "Victorian" steampunk is just a stage in the development of technology, and in the 40s of the alternative universe, it gradually turns into dieselpunk. Which is not devoid of some logic, but completely devoid of steam romance, in my humble opinion.




If we generalize the above, we get that steampunk is technocratic alternative reality, or another world that has embarked on the path of development based on steam technologies and leading a social and cultural reference point since the 19th century of our time. Despite the specific framework set by such a definition, steampunk has many facets. Attempts are constantly being made to isolate various subgenres and even individual genres based on steampunk.
Here are the most famous:

Usually the clockwork or mechanical "clock-gear" component is a harmonious and integral part of the steam universe. But in its purest form, this is a world that exalts the aesthetics of the mechanism, in which the art of creating mechanical things is brought to almost perfection. A mechanical computer on shafts and springs is a common thing for clockworkpunk.

A subgenre inspired by the genius scientist of the late 19th century, Nikola Tesla. Electricity is the basis of the Teslapunk. It does not occur in its pure form, but if electric generators are present in a steampunk work, it can be attributed to a Teslapunk.

Timepunk

HG Wells "Time Machine" is a vivid (and practically the only) example. Time travel, adventures associated with it - that's what timepunk is.


Frame from the movie "Time Machine", quite in the style of steampunk

A sale-punk universe can be a world of flying islands, or a city world where only the sky is free. But one way or another, sailpunk is ships, air and water battles and pirates. Sailpunk is also a harmonious part of many Steam universes. Independent examples include the novel "Aqualon" by Ilya Novak and Lev Zhakov.

fantasy steampunk

Steampunk, but with elves, dragons, magic and other fantasy attributes. Sometimes distinguished as separate genre. One of the most striking examples is the magnificent computer game Arcanum.




The selection of subgenres, the identification of the "steampunk" nature of a particular work or universe - the ground is extremely shaky and leads to ongoing disputes among steampunkers. Should goggles and gears be considered obligatory attributes or banality and signs of bad taste? If the main character is the captain of an air frigate, does that turn steampunk into sailpunk? Despite the difference of opinion and disagreement, there is a hot steam heart in the chest of every steampunker and it beats in the rhythm of steampunk. Steampunk inspires creative exploits; and it doesn't matter whether it's a professionally executed functioning model of an airship, or a necklace made of old gears - each such creation brings both the master himself and the audience a little closer to their beloved world. And this is the most important thing.

Based on the article
Steampunk, steampunk (English steampunk, from steam - "steam" and punk - "protest", "conflict") - a direction of science fiction that models Alternative option development of mankind, in which the technology of steam engines and mechanics were mastered to perfection. As a rule, steampunk implies stylization for the era. Victorian England(second half of the 19th century) and the era of early capitalism with a characteristic urban landscape and contrasting social stratification.