Hi there, Everybody!

Since we’re almost always not at home for Christmas, we went out and got our tree tonight. I promptly proposed it should be a steampunk theme this year.

My proposal was turned down and a more traditional star was place atop the tree. I countered with a compromise.

…but I’m terrible at negotiation and the tree turned out rather normal.

So, now our tree stands in all its brightly colored and beanie-baby festooned glory, but hidden deep in the little tree’s heart is a true Steampunk.

The end.

Happy holidays!

This month’s featured creative is Nigel Taylor, the founder, lead singer, and songwriter of Platform One. His new single “The Silent Have Names” is now available for direct download from Bandcamp and is also available via the iTunes store.  More information regarding the band and their music (including a few free samples) can be found on the Platform One Facebook page.

I first had the opportunity to hear Nigel and Platform One perform while in New Jersey at the Steampunk World’s Faire. I really enjoyed the stylization of Nigel’s music. It is tightly produced and hard hitting while having the depth of lyrical content often lost in similarly styled synthpop music. Nigel’s voice carries richly and the band has a great stage presence. The DIY element of Steampunk is very prominent in the current aesthetic and instrumentation, something Nigel and the band have been building up since their 2008 emergence into the SteamGoth sub-genre. There are also future design changes in the works that Nigel describes as “a marriage of military meets tribal” to be implemented in the coming season. In chatting with the band members before and after the performances, I found them to be cheerful and excited about their music and getting to perform at the fair. Nigel was very approachable and genuinely interested in interacting with his fans at the packed venue. Both Nigel and the band’s sponsor for the SPWF, Nikki Cohen of Mayfaire Moon, were great to hang out with. Discovering genuine people that enjoy their art, have fun with it, and engage personally and sincerely with their audience is something that I find uplifting in this age of all-too-often self-declared stardom. Quality performers like Nigel Taylor are few and far between.

Nigel Taylor founded Platform One in 1999 playing in live venues throughout New England. Taylor released the band’s first synthpop album “Confessions of the Sorrow Tree” in 2000 and tracks from the album were included on several DJ’s compilation albums not long after. The band’s relocation to New York in 2001 continued to expand Platform One’s audience. Nigel took time during the following several years to pursue roles in independent feature films and to compose film scores. In 2008 the band brought on new members and not long after released “The Other Side of December,” their second album. The band now includes Nigel Taylor, Daniel Gill, Allison Lahikainen, Tim Heireth, and Jesse Bjorn. The Platform One summer tour schedule is available via their Facebook page: facebook.com/platformone.

Nigel Taylor first decided to embrace the SteamGoth aesthetic after learning about the Steampunk genre just prior to the band’s re-emergence in 2008.

“We had heard about [Steampunk] as a genre or outlet in 2007-ish, I suppose. When we tied it into things we already loved it just made sense. We [then] performed at the 1st annual Steampunk Convention in San Jose CA in 2008.  We were introduced to the audience as ‘SteamGoth.’ We’ve been building up or live rig ever since.

We love the all-inclusiveness of the [Steampunk] genre. There are punks, formally attired aristocrats,  engineers, and mad scientists… everyone is able to fashion how they fit into a Steampunk universe. Unlike most subcultures, this one has it’s roots in literature and therefore it is more of a complete society than just a few looks. We’re fitting in and broadening the perception slightly as we add yet one more facet… to what this culture can be.”

Nigel’s drive to bring the music of Platform One to a wider audience has started to pay off in the last couple years with the re-emergence of the band in 2008, the new variety of large scale venues, and the newly released album. Platform One has played at several Steampunk and Goth events during the busy 2011 spring touring season, with several more to come.

“I like it.” Nigel stated, “It’s getting our music out to more people and allowing ourselves to connect with fans in a way we couldn’t do normally. I’d have to say Dorian’s Parlor in Philadelphia and Wicked Faire in Somerset, NJ are our favorites. These events are quite different, but they each mean so much to us and the scene. Dorian’s is an upscale cocktail event, while Wicked Faire is a free for all that can barely be contained.”

I’ll definitely be picking up Nigel’s upcoming Platform One album when it is released and look forward the possibility of seeing them perform again live. The band has such good heart that, coupled with Nigel’s creative drive, they should do very well as their music progresses in the coming years. Nigel has plans to integrate his goth elements fully into the Steampunk style while maintaining the dark aesthetic that defined his musical stylization as the band’s foundation. The continued development of the stage kit and the “military/tribal” elements currently in the works will bring even more positive attention to Platform One as the definition of Steampunk expands into pop-culture.

“I think our stage designs are going to make a lot of people happy.” Nigel concludes, “We love inspiring as well as being inspired by the creativity of others.”

To find out more about Nigel Taylor and Platform One go see the Platform One Facebook page (free downloads are available), the official Platform One site, or search for their music via iTunes (“The Silent Have Names” and “The Other Side of December”).

Here on “Grasping @ Creativity” I highlight a creative at least once a month with the hope of inspiring readers in their own pursuit of creativity. These highlighted individuals have all inspired me at various times in my life, whether through their creations or through their philosophy. It is my hope that readers will find these articles both interesting and informative, a source of inspiration, and a resource for initiating their own creative endeavors.

This week’s featured creative is Ay-leen the Peacemaker, editor of Beyond Victoriana and social media manager for Tor.com Steampunk. Ay-leen has also toured with The Wandering Legion of the Thomas Tew speaking at conventions and festivals about the exploration of multiculturalism within the Steampunk genre.

I saw Ay-leen the Peacemaker for the first time at the 2011 Steampunk World’s Faire and later met her at the signing of “The Steampunk Bible” in Manhattan at which she discussed her contribution to the book and her discourse on minorities and Steampunk. Her pursuit of equality within the Steampunk community sparked my curiosity and I decided to research her work further. Where other enthusiasts focus on the art, music, or makery fostered by the steampunk community, Ay-leen has chosen to examine the relationship between industrialization and culture as seen in the Victorian era and colonialism. I find this study of technology and culture fascinating and look forward to reading Ay-Leen’s exposition on the topic as it relates to Steampunk’s “fight the system” mentality. Ay-leen states that “talking about the tensions between technology and how it changes society is what fascinates me most about the [Steampunk] genre.”

Ay-leen has written for several publications including Beyond Victoriana and is a contributor in “The Steampunk Bible.” Ay-leen is also actively raising funds for relief aid in Japan, in association with Rising Phoenix Circle and Shelterbox, an international aid organization. Their goal is to raise $3,000 by the end of Labor day weekend, 2011.

In 2009 Ay-Leen was studying 19th century literature, during which her fiancé introduced Ay-Leen to the 19th century aesthetics of the Steampunk genre.

“To be honest, the impression I got was [that] this was a form of LARPing (Live Action Role Play) where people dressed up in pretty clothes, and I wasn’t too keen on making myself a steampunk character by ‘pretending to be British.’ I had asked a friend, out of curiosity, about the role colonialism played in steampunk and she replied with, ‘Oh, of course you can use the colonies in steampunk. For example, even though we’re Americans, we can still pretend that America was part of the colonies.’ Which, wasn’t the response I was looking for at all!  It did inspire me, however, to create a steampunk character that fought against European colonialism and rooted it in my own family’s Vietnamese history. Thus, Ay-leen the Peacemaker was born. My first foray into the genre was as a type of performance. As a cosplayer… with a background in political theater, I was particularly interested in creating a character that could both be over-the-top and ridiculous, but also provide commentary about the romanticization of [the] empire that I saw many other Steampunks becoming involved in at the time.”

Since discovering Steampunk and developing her genre character, Ay-leen began discussing race relations and the idealized colonialism of the Victorian era: “After Racefail2009, there was a lot of talk flying in the sci-fi/fantasy community about how marginalized… fans of color [were] treated in fandom spaces, and that discussion was the primarily motivator behind the creation of Beyond Victoriana, a blog about multicultural steampunk.”

Conference panels based on subjects from Beyond Victoriana; “Steam Around the World” and “Envisioning a Better Steam Society,” in association with author Jaymee Goh, were premiered at The Steampunk World’s Faire in 2010. Also, the recent inclusion of Ay-Leen the Peacemaker in “The Steampunk Bible” and her speeches given at an assortment of Steampunk conferences have cemented Ay-leen’s reputation within the community as a voice for the marginalized peoples of the fandom.

Ay-leen plans on re-entering academia this summer in pursuit of a degree in Steampunk as a performative identity and will be “published in the academic anthology Fashion Talks by SUNY Press in 2012.” She also has several current projects in the works including the Rising Phoenix Circle relief fund and a yet-to-be-announced collaborative photography project to be shown at a gallery in New York. “Academically,” she adds,  “I [also] hope to get some more papers about steampunk & performance out.”

To find out more about Ay-leen the Peacemaker, her ideas and creativity, check out Beyond Victoriana. Ay-leen can also be contacted via Facebook or the Twitters. Get involved with Ay-leen’s current Japan relief aid project by surfing over to the Rising Phoenix Circle and picking up a set of Steampunk buttons.

Here on “Grasping @ Creativity” I highlight a creative individual at least once a month with the hope of inspiring readers in their own pursuit of creativity. These highlighted individuals have all inspired me at various times in my life, whether through their creations or through their philosophy. It is my hope that readers will find these articles both interesting and informative, a source of inspiration, and a resource for initiating their own creative endeavors

This week’s featured creative is Margaret Killjoy, author of the book “A Steampunk’s Guide to the Apocalypse” and publisher with Combustion Books. His new book “What Lies Beneath The Clock Tower” is available on AK Press.

I first heard of “A Steampunk’s Guide to the Apocalypse” on a genre forum I happened across a while ago, and someone there was kind enough to post a link to the book’s pdf version (released under creative commons licensing), which can now be found in the downloads section of the SteamPunk Magazine website. The guide is a tongue-in-cheek (but well researched) look at the necessities of life in a post-culture society. I found the book both entertaining and fascinating as a reference for DIY living and for old-school off-grid construction.  Chapter four was rather entertaining with its descriptions of defense strategies, including trebuchet building and cipher coding; and I’d like to actually try some ideas in chapter three’s section on vertical farming, which I think could work well in the limited living spaces here in Brooklyn. The book is full of all sorts of creative tips that could be practical, even without waiting for the world to come to an end first.

Margaret Killjoy is a prolific creative: in addition to his Steampunk writing, he is also known for his art, design, and activism as a nomadic Anarchist. His book “Mythmakers and Lawbreakers: Anarchist Writers on Fiction” is a collection of interviews with a cross-section of science fiction writers describing their political views and how those views affect their writing. There is a selected chapter of the book available for download via Strangers in a Tanlged Wilderness publishing. Killjoy’s current bibliography includes “A Steampunk’s Guide to the Apocalypse”, “What Lies Beneath The Clock Tower”, “Mythmakers and Lawbreakers”, “Being the Adventures of One Fine Summer”, “Miti e Molotov #1″ and “Miti e Molotov #2″, as well as his articles in SteamPunk Magazine and other ‘zines.

Margaret Killjoy first discovered the Steampunk genre back in 2004:

“I was living in a squatted tenement building in the south Bronx. There was an anarchist paper in the city at the time, the New York Rat. While searching around the website that hosted it, I ran across some steampunk writings by ‘The Catastrophone Orchestra,’ including the manifesto that we published as ‘Colonizing The Past So We Can Dream The Future’ in the first issue of SteamPunk Magazine a few years later. It intrigued me: just crazy enough to be interesting, and it spoke to an aesthetic I’d long been fond of, of clanking gear machines and mad scientists hellbent on liberation.”

After discovering Steampunk, Killjoy and his friends designed several Steampunk inspired drum machines and “cabinet-sized music boxes” to use for busking (a form of street performance). His first official Steampunk-themed writing was for the website Steamy Punk.   He then took the aesthetic to another level by founding SteamPunk Magazine as an “outlet for all the crazy stuff” he was writing at the time. SteamPunk Magazine was soon picked up by the UK based publishing collective Vagrants Among Ruins and back issues are now available for download or printed order via their website.  I originally came across Margaret Killjoy’s work via SteamPunk Magazine back in 2009.  The magazine included original works of fiction, poetry, comic strips, interviews with featured artists and (my personal favorite) how-to guides.

Killjoy seems to enjoy Steampunk for its DIY ingenuity in design and mechanical engineering, beyond the iconic goggles and gears, and I have to say I agree. I also enjoy stories that use Steampunk in science fiction to explore mechanical alternate histories, parallel realities, or potential post-apocalyptic futures. As Killjoy points out, “(Steampunk’s) not just an excuse to wear silly clothes… it is an opportunity to question the whole of western history and humanity’s interaction with technology.”

“Now, don’t get me wrong,” he adds, “I love the clothes too.”

Currently, Margaret Killjoy is working on several new projects including a feature-length narrative film. He has also started writing again for the possible resurrection of the long-dormant SteamPunk Magazine, which he still claims as his favorite Steampunk project to date.

“Some of the pieces we published are absolutely some of the most important theoretical texts that shape my own thinking: the original steampunk manifesto we published, ‘My Machine, My Comrade,’ which addresses the ways that we as humans interact with machinery, and a piece on the nature of ‘progress’ as defined by western society that tears open the myth that, for example, the fixed-wing aircraft is superior to airships.”

I’m looking forward to the possible return of the bi-annual SteamPunk Magazine. In fact, I may consider submitting a couple DIY guides of my own if the publishers send out a request for submissions again. One way or another, it was interesting getting to meet Margaret Killjoy and seeing his creativity first hand.

Killjoy’s most recent book “What Lies Beneath The Clock Tower” was released on May 26, 2011 and is currently available for order via Combustion Books.

To find out more about Margaret Killjoy, his past works and future projects, please check out his blog at Birds Before the Storm. Killjoy can also be found on Flickr and the Twitters, and for his published works peruse Combustion Books.

Here on “Grasping @ Creativity” I feature at least one creative each month with the hope of inspiring readers in their own pursuit of creativity. These highlighted individuals have all influenced me at various times in my life, whether through their creations or through their philosophy. It is my hope that readers will find these articles both interesting and informative, a source of inspiration, and a resource for initiating their own creative endeavors.

On Thursday of last week I attended the Manhattan signing of Jeff Vandermeer and S.J. Chambers’ newest release The Steampunk Bible. The book’s cover summary classifies it as “a fully illustrated compendium tracing the roots and history of this subculture, from the works of its godfathers, Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, to the key figures who first coined the word that would spawn a literary genre, to the vast community of craftsmen and artists that has translated the spark into a lifestyle with clothing, accessories, and a backstory to match.” A varied group of genre fans and contributors to the compendium showed up in everything from street clothes to full Steampunk regalia surprising and confounding some of the book store regular patrons, which I found devilishly humorous. Several of the attendees at the signing were representatives of the NY Steampunk Meet-up Group in Manhattan. Other personalities such as Dexter Palmer, Aleks Sennwald, Jaymee Goh, Ekaterina Sedia, Liz Gorinsky and Ay-Leen the Peacemaker were also in attendance per their contributions to the compendium.

S.J. Chambers introduced the guest contributors as well as setting the mood for what was to be a lighthearted look at the steampunk genre and its expansion in the past several years into all areas of culture from literature, music, film, and invention to philosophical and political ideologies. Jeff Vandermeer started the talk with a quip about his clockwork lapel pin being “all that is needed to be called steampunk” and following with, “I feel like a poser if I dress up or put on a fake British accent” which poked fun at the foppish current trends in steampunk festivals. According to Vandermeer, steampunk encompasses a variety of art and industry, music, sculpture and churchtanks, yes churchtanks (see page 97). There are a variety of influences within the steampunk genre but most often it gets traced to the literary work of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells with the re-emergence in the 1980′s as read in the work of K. W. Jeter and Michael Moorcock. While the current evolution of Steampunk has moved away from its roots to a bit broader stance, the various artistic qualities still have a very definite “look” similar to the speculative/science fiction illustrations by french author Jules Verne. The inclusion of heavier than air “airships” in Verne’s Robur the Conqueror and its sequel Master of the World has sparked many artist’s imaginations and become an almost universal symbol in the Steampunk genre today. Vandermeer also made mention of Verne’s book The Steam House and its use of a mechanical elephant with mechanical automatons or golems being another common theme in contemporary steampunk literature.

At the conclusion of the talk in response to questions from the audience Vandermeer stated that he felt the appeal of steampunk in this age was the hands-on approach to ingenuity. In a generation of disposable iDevices with smooth corners and sealed cases there is an almost romantic appeal to the design elements of the yesteryear as well as the non-disposable build quality of things that, if broken, were fixed and not thrown away. “Steampunk is becoming something new… cross pollinating with a variety of topics,” said Vandermeer in conclusion.

In The Steampunk Bible, on pages 54 and 55, is a list of some of the more prominent cross-pollinated sub-genres within the general steampunk theme. The list includes Boilerpunk, Clockpunk, Dieselpunk, Stitchpunk and others. If you find all this a bit confusing, don’t worry. Steampunk in general is classified by an openhearted acceptance of all aspects of fandom and tinkering with a heavy nod to Victoriana and its speculative fiction.

If you’re interesting in reading The Steampunk Bible, look for it at your local bookstore or online and enjoy!

Thanks to Jeff Vandermeer and S.J Chambers for bringing together this great Steampunk compendium.

P.S.

I’m posting this on my birthday. How’s that for dedication? Cheers.

This month’s featured creative is Art Donovan of Donovan Design and curator of “Steampunk: Devices + Contraptions Extraordinaire” at the Museum of the History of Science at the University of Oxford, UK.  His new book “The Art of Steampunk: Extraordinary Devices and Ingenious Contraptions from the Leading Artists of the Steampunk Movement” is available on Amazon.com – currently “pre-order” status.

I came across Art Donovan’s work in 2007 via an article on “Brass Goggles”, the UK based Steampunk blog. Along with several other artists creating new Steampunk flavored designs, Donovan’s clock and lamp designs caught my eye because of their inherent craftsmanship and implementation. Where other start-up Steampunk artists are categorized more in the collage or patchwork art domain, Donovan’s art is derived from a background in interior lighting design and detailed craftsmanship. Donovan’s pieces are not only hand crafted, but more often than not made from scratch, which I find much more inspiring than the scavenging and re-purposing often attributed to Steampunk art.

Art Donovan designs for a variety of clients, most of whom are not Steampunk related. This pre-existing design background is what gives Donovan the sharply unique, custom-manufactured look that I find so appealing. His company Donovan Design was established in 1990 as a contract and residential lighting design house. Donovan’s designs have a heavy dose of Art Deco stylization which I attribute to his early influences from working with Donald Deskey, designer of Radio City Music Hall.

Art Donovan discovered the Steampunk genre in August of 2007.

“It was the most exciting new style that I had seen in over 30 years as a designer. Steampunk combined all of the interests that I ever had- science fact, speculative fiction, early sci-fi films, history, antique technologies, Jules Verne novels… It was even more surprising to discover that Steampunk embraced such unexpected things as arcane spiritualities, traditional Victorian manners and everything else that was thriving in culture of the late 19th and early 20th century.”

After discovering Steampunk, Donovan created two introductory pieces, a distressed brass clock and a Steampunk style table lamp, both of which were featured in several Steampunk blogs including Brass Goggles. His next more elaborate piece, the Siddhartha Pod Lamp, cemented his name in the minds of Steampunk fans across the globe and catapulted his design career into the Steampunk world. Donovan was recently dubbed the “world authority on the visual genre of Steampunk” and is continuing to expand his line of designs.

Much of his fanfare comes from Donovan’s having been curator of the “Steampunk: Devices + Contraptions Extraordinaire” exhibit at the Museum of the History of Science at the University of Oxford, UK. The exhibit brought the Steampunk genre to light in the art community, and showcased the high quality artistic creations emerging within the genre. Donovan also recently wrote his own review of the experience, in which he stated, “True Steampunk would be an artifact of grace and artistic ingenuity.  It would at first pay homage to the antique arts and sciences but ultimately point to a ideal or concept  greater than itself.”  This “artistic ingenuity” is the very aspect of Steampunk art that drew me into the aesthetic so many years ago, and I think Donovan makes a good point when describing Steampunk as an “artifact of grace and artistic ingenuity” rather than as a simple label, which I find even more appealing when tempered by a studied application of craftsmanship and pre-conceived design.

Art Donovan has new book coming out soon that promises to be a very informative look at the Steampunk art community. “The Art of Steampunk: Extraordinary Devices and Ingenious Contraptions from the Leading Artists of the Steampunk Movement” will soon be available on Amazon.com, and I highly recommend you take a look at it when it arrives. More information about Art Donovan can also be found at his blog “Art Donovan: Steampunk Art + Design.”

Here on “Grasping @ Creativity” I highlight a creative each month with the hope of inspiring readers in their own pursuit of creativity. These highlighted individuals have all inspired me at various times in my life, whether through their creations or through their philosophy. It is my hope that readers will find these articles both interesting and informative, a source of inspiration, and a resource for initiating their own creative endeavors.

For a while now I have been looking at getting a fancy dress watch for those rare occasions when I dress fancy. As I have an affinity to the cogwerks style, I have been searching through the “steampunk watches” on the interweb for some time now, but to no avail. All the specifically dedicated “steampunk” watches that I have come across are just re-purposed old watches with gears and bits soldered on. They’re usually way too chunky and heavy to fit under the sleeve of a shirt, a point absolutely necessary in order to take a wristwatch seriously. For those who have not looked here are a few examples of “steampunk” watches.

I find the idea of a “steampunk” watch a little funny. You see, unlike computers, heavier than air airships, and motorcycles the Victorian era actually had watches. I understand that Steampunk is fantasy and such, but I wish to impose my own reality based framework on things when coming up with the rules for a style. My rule is, Steampunk is what our world would look like today if oil based fuels were not developed beyond 1883. That gives us all a lot of leeway when developing Steampunk style, but does not discount the progress in many other non-related fields. I digress. The watch I settled on was this:

It’s not exactly “Steampunk”, but throws in the cogwerk decoratively like I wanted. It’s unfortunately priced at over a thousand dollars, but auctions on overstock.com may fix that. We’ll see. I’d probably replace the band with something less dandy.

All the pictures link to the location at which I found them. Credit given, stop harping on me.

I’ve been giving it some thought, and I wonder if it would be possible to create a steam engine small and light enough for a model RC steam powered dirigible. Theoretically, one could get a helium balloon specially made in the shape desired like the  promotional shaped RC blimps. I’ve found an RC gas powered blimp online, but thought it would be cooler if the idea was taken that extra step and made steam powered. Obviously, the weight ratio would have to be compensated for, but it would be really sweet looking if done right. The overt design features could be printed on the bag or, using a light foam structure, added as extraneous parts. I just think it should be tried. I haven’t got the space requirements for it right now, but maybe in the future I’ll live somewhere bigger than my NYC apartment.

Also, along those same lines, I think it should be possible to make a neutral weight UFO shaped dirigible and attach the props on the outside rim allowing for greater maneuverability; add some blue and white chaser LEDs and have a blast in Central Park. A whole fleet should be made and flown. If made big enough, the LEDs could be lined on the whole surface and be used to simulate all sorts of unidentified sky light shows.

Maybe it’s a good thing I’m poor…