Dystopian Metal: The Art of Greg Brotherton
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- Watchtower
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- 3 Wheeled Horn
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- Into the Void
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- Mercury 5000- It reminds me of Abraham Sapiens from Hellboy
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- Migraine Machine
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- Oracle
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- Search Engine
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- Sounding the Furnace
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- The Lift
Metal is one of the most satisfying mediums I have ever worked with and I hope to get a chance to do more in the future. But even if I never do, I will always love metal art. The strength and flexibility of the material means an artist is really only constrained by the bounds of their imaginations (okay, and sometimes their tools). I really enjoyed these metal men and the world I imagine them inhabiting, especially the “search engine” and the “observatory.”
You can find more of Greg Brotherton’s artwork (including many different angles of the pieces I chose for my post), as well as pictures from his studio here.
I always like to hear about people from the Midwest finding success, and it looks like Greg is one of those people. Here’s his bio:
“Born in Ames, Iowa, in 1968, Greg experienced a somewhat nomadic childhood, spending the majority of his youth in Utah and Colorado. His interest in the mechanical surfaced at age five, when he began disassembling anything with screws in it. By the age of twelve he had taught himself to mine his backyard with homemade explosives (no injuries!). Then, after being successfully ejected from a series of public and private learning institutions, Greg, equivalency test in hand, entered the Colorado Academy of Art, beginning his undergraduate studies at sixteen.
In 1987, after receiving a degree in graphic design, Greg set off for California. Over the next two decades, he forged a successful career as an award-winning commercial artist, while honing his skills as a sculptor.
With a consuming drive to build things that often escalate in complexity as they take shape, Greg’s work is compulsive. Working with hammer-formed steel and re-purposed objects, his themes tend to be mythological in nature, revealed through a dystopian view of pop culture.
Greg’s work has received international recognition, has been exhibited throughout the United States and is collected worldwide. In 2007, he was invited to serve as the featured artist at the Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED)Conference in Monterey, California, joining the ranks of some of the most prestigious artists, luminaries, and scientists of our time. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California, where he continues to sculpt and experiment.”
Steampunk Sourcebook: The Illusionist
The Illusionist poster
Eisenheim in his workshop
Illusions are all about making an audience believe the impossible. Magicians can accomplish this through sleight of hand, misdirection and clever technology. Innovative and deceptive designs makes the turn of the century magician a great trope of steampunkery. At left, Eisenheim (Edward Norton) is seen pondering in his workshop where this son of a cabinet-maker aspires to and achieves greatness.
Most of this romantic drama centers on the relationship of Eisenheim and his childhood love, Sophie, who is being made to marry the crown prince of Austria. The special effects are beautiful and based on magic tricks that were really performed during the 20th century.
Fun Facts and Context:
۞ The film was based on a story that appeared in a volume of short stories called The Barnum Museum (1990). This was in reference to Barnum’s American Museum, an American attraction of oddities popular in the 1840s-1860s.
۞ The tale is called Eisienheim the Illusionist by Steven Millhauser. You can read the full text here.
۞ The romantic intrigue with Jessica Biel‘s character that drives the film is completely absent from the original story. The police become interested in Eisenheim because of the disappearance of a rival magician.
۞ The film is told from the perspective of Walter Uhl (played by Paul Giamatti), a police inspector.
۞ Giamatti spends most of the film flashing back over his investigation for the benefit of Prince Leopold of Austria (played by Rufus Sewel). Leopold was not a real person, but is based on Rudolf, the crown prince of Austria who died at the age of 30 in 1889. Rudolf had a mistress who died under shadowy circumstances like the Sewel character.
۞ The filmmakers wanted to capture to beauty and awe of watching a master illusionist, so many of most impressive tricks are done with computer graphics to achieve what the Eisenheim of the original story had been able to do. But, you can see a video of a real mechanical orange tree illusion here.
۞ Edward Norton did perform many of his own sleight of hand tricks, but his hands were sometimes portrayed by his double, James Freedman.
Sophie (Biel) and Leopold (Sewel) watching Eisenheim
I’ve created a gallery below featuring images both from the turn of the century and contemporary portrayals of Steampunk magicians and illusions.
Of course, I can’t talk about The Illusionist without giving a shout out to The Prestige. I will do another sourcebook entry for The Prestige in particular, but I wanted to know from you, my readers, which movie you prefer. Weigh in below by commenting on this post and make sure to say why you picked the film you did.
Gingersnap Creations: Valerie Brincheck
Gingersnap Creations: July Muse Showcase: Valerie Brincheck.
PBS’ The Paradise is Chock-full of Victorian Fashion to Inspire Your Steampunk Designs
(Image from http://www.janeaustenfilmclub.blogspot.com)
One place you can always count on for period pieces and beautifully constructed costumes is the Masterpiece Theater on PBS, and The Paradise is no exception. Set in an 1870s shopping Mecca, this series is a veritable parade of inspiration for Steampunk fashion. The hats alone already have my mind whirring! And as the visionary store owner, John Moray says “how can such beautiful women ever have enough beautiful things?”
Before the Victorian era, all clothing was sewed by hand. The industrialization of the garment industry led to a growing collection of “ready-made” dresses, but the upper class ladies were slow to move away from their couture gowns. This is one of the hurtles that the staff of The Paradise must overcome, and fast-thinking shopgirl Denise is able to make the “hard sell” from the very beginning.
“This isn’t a shop. This is a kind of heaven!” cries one of their customers. Keep in mind there was no such thing as Harrod’s or Macy’s in the form we know it today until the 1890s, so the convention of a store that caters specifically to women and their buying power was all but untapped of at this time.
You can see full episodes on PBS’s website by clicking here and scrolling to the bottom of the page for Episode 1.
Building an Anatomy of Steampunk (Book)
Anatomy of Steampunk cover
“Steampunk style has become synonymous with many things as it has become more pervasive in popular culture, for good and ill: 19th-century, retrofuturism, neo-Victorian, colonialism, stuff white people like. What the steampunk community needs is a game-changer: more examples of what steampunks are really doing, and why does this subculture fit their wheelhouses. When you’re an outsider looking in, however, how can you avoid being blindsided by what has become the “tropes of the genre” (gears, goggles, pith helmets, and all)?”
Follow the link for the full article.
Æther Feature — Building an Anatomy of Steampunk—An Insider’s View.
Mood Swings: Bob Dylan’s New Art Exhibit “Swings” Towards Steampunk
As if “Bobby D” couldn’t get any awesomer, it turns out he has a new exhibit opening today at London’s Halcyon Gallery. The photos of his studio made me absolutely drool over his shelves of scrap metal bounty. His show centers on gates made of scrap gears, and he had this to say about his inspiration:
“Gates appeal to me because of the negative space they allow. They can be closed but at the time they allow the seasons and breezes to enter and flow. They can shut you out or shut you in. In some ways, there is no difference.”
Bob Dylan in his studio (source: Gizmodo)
I noticed a comment on the Gizmodo article lamenting the application of the label Steampunk to his work because Dylan uses steel instead of cast iron. Does that mean that clothes containing lycra can’t be Steampunk? Or that “real” Steampunk makeup would include zinc oxide powder even though its poisonous? Steampunk is an aesthetic that often (though obviously not always) includes the appearance and outlines of clockwork, not unlike Dylan’s exhibition Mood Swings.
Bob Dylan in his studio (source: Gizmodo)
Source: http://gizmodo.com/hey-did-you-know-bob-dylan-is-a-steampunk-metalworker-1462363371
America’s Next Top Model 2012 Steampunk Shoot (Clockwork Couture)
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- ANTM contestant Kiara Steampunk photo shoot
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- ANTM contestant Yvonne Steampunk photoshoot
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- ANTM contestant Natasia Steampunk photoshoot
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- ANTM winner Laura Steampunk photoshoot
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- ANTM contestant Jessie Steampunk photoshoot
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- ANTM contestant Brittany Steampunk photoshoot
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- ANTM contestant Victoria
America’s Next Top Model has been around for a long time, and they do their best to push the boundaries of fashion and aesthetics for their photoshoots. It should come as no surprise then that Steampunk would eventually make an appearance. In the gallery above I picked my favorite images of ANTM contestants bedecked in Clockwork Couture, who have also featured celebrities like Mythbuster’s Grant Imahara in their photos.
For Whom the Gear Turns 