DESC and stuff

DESC - Day 1

You got home from the first day of DESC after facing a code Orange Storm. The weather just got to bad for my compagnion Niels Dijkstra who assited me with the presentation today already, wich was fun by the way. Niels had to deal with a leaking tent the night before and the winds just didn't help either. So we packed the important things and dropped the tent.
The weather is bound to be better tommorow, because it can't get any worse.

Lets hope we can hold both presentations tommorow. See you all then.

Interview with Martijn Aspirantie @ Dragons Den Zwolle

A small interview I did with Martijn Aspirantie during the opening of his store Dragons Den in Zwolle. It's in Dutch, unfortunately for my english readers.

For more information on Dragons Den Zwolle follow this Link.

How to enjoy Steampunk?

In my previous piece on Steampunks relation to the Romantic Movement I concluded that the Romantics are historically important to Steampunk and that there are similarities in their idea's. Both are reactionary, to developments in their own era, and both seem to have this desire to return to a simpler time. It’s the approach to technological development were these similarities stop.
The romantics were very skeptical of technological and scientific progress. Some outright hated it and others warned for the abuse of scientific knowledge by flawed human beings. Also the Romantics rebelled against the Laisse Fair economics and power abuse by the government and the rich.
Steampunk, on the other hand, loves technology but want it to move into a more durable and aesthetically pleasing direction. It rebels against conformity and focusses on creativity rather than politics and the ill’s of society.  Although, many Steampunk feel that Western Society has lost much of it’s elegance, in behavior and social interactions, since the eighteenth century. That’s why the ‘Victorian Myths’ on the gentleman are so important to the subculture that makes some Steampunk look like they were born in the wrong era. It’s a weird paradox as Steampunk as a literary started out as a critique on the romaticization of Victorian England. They used the injustices and appalling conditions as an inspiration for their stories. But these days Fantasy Steampunk is getting more prevalent, which focusses more on paranormal creatures and less on history.
The community moved into a whole different direction. They want to celebrate the advances in science and depict the stories of those days. Were all familiar with the gadget-clad gentlemen and elegant ladies. But what you like Steampunk, but have no interest in wearing pretty dresses or tophats.

How else can we enjoy Steampunk? For the purpose of this articles I am going to describe three approaches to Steampunk. The Escapist, the Cultural and the Practical approach. It doesn’t mean Steamers follow one or the other. These are gross generalizations, but I think many Steamers can identify with these.

The Escapist approach focusses on depicting stories about adventurers, inventors, ladies and gentlemen, and the combination thereof. This is probably the most visible aspect of Steampunk due to the great amount of cosplayers going to conventions. Here people just want to get away from their daily routine or experiment with their personalities and dress in a way you to don’t get to anywhere else. They get to express a side of their personalities that wouldn’t be tolerated at work or get frowned upon in their direct environment. Also it’s a way of expressing they’re fandom for their favorite franchises, like Star Wars or Marvel Hero’s.
Here politics and other daily stuff don’t matter. It is a temporary retreat from the ‘real world’ were work, chores and other stressful activities await them. Steampunk is mostly a hobby in this regard, although there are bound to be people who take it to far. But there is a difference between having escapism or Steampunk as a lifestyle. In the first case, getting away from real life is a full time occupation, were as Steampunk is a whole different mater. But more on that later.

Not everyone involved in Steampunk cosplayers. There are plenty of artists who make Steampunk related objects but never wear costumes. In the Netherlands for example there are few writers that cosplay and the same goes for designers. They focus purely on they’re craft. Some might only have a costume to present themselves on conventions. What you’re most likely to see are their pictures on facebook, printest and rarely show themselves in person. Some of us just aren’t interested in modeling or dressing up. They use Steampunk as fin inspiration for their weird creations. Many Steampunk creations are just that, weird, with little practical value. But they sure look cool! Other expressions of Steampunk can be found in movies (Hugo, Steamboy), television series (Warehouse 13) and video games (Dishonored, Thief).

But not all designers are content with creating weird things. They want steampunk to enrich our daily lives. That is what I will call the practical approach. Steamer or designers try to create a kind of socially acceptable steampunk. They use vintage and practical objects to incorporate Steampunk into our daily life’s, especially for interior design and fashion. In my case I can go to an event in my ‘normal clothes’ and still be recognized as Steampunk. The same goes for my home. It doesn’t mean my house is filled with machinery, accept for the ones I use, but it has a rich tapestry of colors and vintage objects to create a retro futuristic atmosphere. Strange enough to be alien, but recognizable enough not to alienate. I believe that is the power of, and reason why Steampunk is able to become mainstream. Even the people with no desire to cosplay or purchase such items. Big names fashion designers like Mcqueen and Prada already made some retofuturistic fashion lines and promoted these with big name celebrities. There are even some attempts to make innovations using archaic technology, like greensteam and matrix lock protected usb-drives.

To conclude, this overview doesn’t really do Steampunk justice. It’s just a summary of ways to enjoys Steampunk. I’ve you love to dressup but don’t like to create, maybe you can look for someone who loves to make things. This way you can inspire and learn from each other.