Steampunk is originally a subgenre of fiction from the ‘80s and ’90s, something akin to the idea of a cyberpunk, but set about 150 years ago. In the last couple decades, steampunk has grown into a movement of crafters and designers, called “makers,” that are bringing modern technology to a whole old level.
Boston-based Sean Slattery, aka Jake von Slatt, is one of the world’s pre-eminent steampunks. A linux system administrator by day, he crafts brilliantly detailed steampunk creations by night and in his spare time.
“I like to call it the intersection of technology and romance, it’s a way of injecting some humanity back into modern life,” he wrote in an email interview describing steampunk.
A talented “maker,” Slattery has been building stuff his whole life, but it was about three years ago he was drawn to the world of steampunk. Among his creations is an old bus he converted into a Victorian home on wheels complete with wood paneling and a chandelier. He writes on his website that he wanted it to have the feel of a “sea coast summer house that had been in the family for generations.”
A fellow steampunk photographed on his website has a motorcycle that looks made of brass and wood, complete with a tail pipe spewing a steady stream of steam. It is not actually steam driven, but the captures exactly what a steampunk biker would ride.
Stattery thinks steampunk could continue to grow as the impacts of modern over consumption make “buying new” an outdated idea.
“There are a lot of discarded and forgotten gadgets and technologies that we may see a comeback in a world starved for energy,” he wrote.
One of the coolest steampunk projects on the Slattery’s website is his desktop computer.
After extracting a flat screen monitor and re-casing it in the frame of an antique knick-knack stand, he added some bronze rods and gold-etching. The keyboard is similarly constructed but with the help of a hand-built casing and vintage typewriter keys that maintain the yesteryear authenticity.
Steampunks appear to be much less intimidating than the mohawked bunch we might be familiar with these days. They regularly post workshops of various projects online and lend advice to eachother on how to craft new, or old, creations. That community is one of Slattery’s favourite things about the movement.
“What other sub-culture boast members that range from 17 year-old high school kids that dress in Victorian garb everyday to 60-year-old live-steam enthusiasts,” he notes.
For Slattery, steampunk is about understanding how technology works and being able to work with it. It is also about making something beautiful out of what could otherwise be trash. But there is something deeper to it: it is also about the way people connect with the technology they use everyday. Slattery suspects that it is this that keeps the fires burning for steampunk.
“We’ve stripped away so much of the ritual of daily live in service of efficiency and convenience that it’s no wonder that people gravitate to something that brings a bit of that back.”
For more about steampunk visit Slattery’s website steampunkworkshop.com. You might also check out the Maker Fair in Austin.
