CHRISTMAS THEMED STEAMPUNK MODEL NIGHT

On Monday 11th December, we held a Christmas themed Steampunk model night!

The meaning behind “Steampunk”

Steampunk may be defined as “where history and fantasy collide with technology.”

More specifically, Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery rather than advanced technology. Most Steampunk culture bases its aesthetic and narrative on machinery from the 19th century.

There are many different “veins” of Steampunk culture that have been written about, sampled in film, or enacted and imagined in modern-day fandom culture. These sub-genres include Pirate, Victorian, American West, Dystopian, and many others.

The history of Steampunk

So where does “Steampunk” come from?

The origin of Steampunk is debatable; it’s difficult to know exactly where the first Steampunk authors drew their inspiration from, but a couple of things are known fact.

First, Steampunk inspiration comes from the Victorian Age, from 1837 to 1901. The movement “reaches directly into the pocket of Victorian England and predicts what the world would be like today had its inhabitants and inventors prevailed over modern technology.”

Second, before it was a full-flown sub-culture phenomenon, Steampunk started as a sub-genre of science fiction in the 1970s, and its inspiration takes from 19th century Victorian writers. These writers include Jules Verne, author of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and H.G. Wells who wrote The Time Machine. These classic science-fiction novels play a big role in Steampunk culture and literature, but it’s important to note that Victorian-age novels were not Steampunk in itself but rather a large source of inspiration for the Steampunk movement that was to come a century later. The author of Steampunk Prime, Mike Ashley, says that Steampunk is “the idea that perhaps the Victorians got it right and that we do live in a world of airships.”

On the Night

This was a fantastic night, where members took the change to take photographs of Dean & Lynda AKA The Vintage Dapper couple, modelling a steampunk Christmas theme for us.