WEBVTT - TechStuff Goes Steampunk 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.840 Brought to you by the Reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:08.880 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 0:00:08.960 --> 0:00:17.680 tech Stuff from how stuff dot com. Hello again, everyone, 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.080 and welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Poulette 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:21.960 and I am an editor at how stuff works dot com. 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:24.760 Sitting across from me as always his senior writer Jonathan 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:29.560 Strickwind Heidi who old Chap very nice. So we wanted 0:00:29.560 --> 0:00:32.879 to talk about steampunk, and one of our sister podcasts, 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:36.800 pop Stuff, has has addressed steampunk, but we thought we 0:00:36.840 --> 0:00:39.400 would talk about steampunk as well because we're doing this 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:43.920 whole series of episodes about technology that you reinvent you 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:46.360 know in some way, so it is different from what 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:51.360 it originally was, correct, and steampunk is is sort of 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:55.200 an aesthetic approach to that it's and it's not confined 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:59.120 solely to technology. In fact, you would argue, I would 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:03.600 argue that originally was a literary genre or sub genre, 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:06.000 and so let's kind of talk about what it is 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:09.360 before we get into any steampunk hacks that we have 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:16.280 seen and enjoyed on the interwebs. So you're familiar with 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:21.920 some of the the forefathers of modern science fiction, were 0:01:22.000 --> 0:01:27.720 there for there's many more than that. But right, well 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:32.320 it's f O R E. Uh So Jules Verne, Jules Verne, 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:37.200 very famous author, H. H. G. Wells another one. Yes, 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:40.720 Jules Verne and H. G. Wells together produced a lot 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:46.880 of work that kind of serves as a an inspiration 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:50.600 for the steampunk movement. Yes, and if they had actually 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:52.560 worked together around the world in eighty days could have 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:54.760 been accomplished with a time machine and it wouldn't have 0:01:54.840 --> 0:02:02.040 taken around the world yesterday. So uh sorry, but the 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:04.480 time machine didn't it only travel in time but not 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:08.359 in space. Wasn't that its thing? Anyway? So the the 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:11.560 the Yeah, so you'd have to have it on the 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:14.880 on the balloon. I guess nothing bad could happen from that, 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:20.760 right So? So the the the aesthetic that Jules Vernon H. G. 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:25.079 Wells kind of set is sort of what creates the 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:29.480 foundation for steampunk. Steampunk in general takes a very Victorian 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:35.440 era approach to technology. Yes, the idea is what if 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:40.160 during the Victorian era, uh, tinkerers who have been able 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:44.440 to build some of the more complex electronics and machinery 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:46.799 that we have at our disposal today. But with that 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:50.120 Victorian aesthetic and the materials that they would have used 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:53.040 during that era. So you get a lot of stuff 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:56.919 with copper and brass and uh and and sometimes things 0:02:57.000 --> 0:02:59.560 like vacuum tubes and stuff like that, although that's vacuum 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:03.079 tubes really are post Victorian. But anyway, you get you 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:05.400 get the lots of wood as well, a lot of 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:07.480 a lot of these materials that you would find in 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:12.320 Victorian furniture and things like that would be incorporated into 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:17.079 this sort of technology of this this fictional world, this 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:20.239 world that could have been but wasn't. So, Yeah, the 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:23.119 Victorian area that we're talking about is is the late 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:28.120 nineteenth century, so you know around the eighteen eighties. There's 0:03:28.160 --> 0:03:31.000 a lot of different literature that came out around that time, 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:36.320 eighteen eighties, eighteen nineties. Uh that that that really influences 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:39.320 the steampunk aesthetics. So some of it is some of 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:42.480 it is stuff that H. G. Wells and Jules Verne writing. 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:46.160 Some of it is stuff like uh, Sir Arthur Glendon Doyle, 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:50.120 the Sherlock Home Stories. That that definitely influences a lot 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:53.160 of the steampunk aesthetic too. It's not just technology, it's 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:55.760 a lot of different things but it's it's that feel, 0:03:56.120 --> 0:04:00.240 especially the feel that you would associate with something like 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:05.080 London during this era. Although steampunk, I would say steampunk 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:11.000 is kind of very much an English influenced UM esthetic 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:14.400 or movement, or at least Western European. Yeah. And the 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:16.280 reason why I say English is because a lot of 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:19.320 the steampunk stuff I see is based off Victorian fashion 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:23.840 or colonial fashion, the stuff that was done during that 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:28.360 late UH nineteenth century colonial era, like in in UH 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:32.440 in India. So you'll see a lot of steampunk that 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:37.640 takes design elements from that as well. But the the 0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:40.919 idea of creating this sort of science fiction world based 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:44.600 on the Victorian era of technology is a little more moderate. 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:48.839 I mean, their inspiration comes from writers that we're writing 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:52.599 around that era, but later writers really kind of brought 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:55.920 that back up, like William Gibson and Bruce Sterling who 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:59.800 wrote The Difference Engine, which kind of brought this aesthetic 0:04:59.880 --> 0:05:02.280 in to UH. The idea of well, what if we 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:06.960 take this basic form of technology and then go a 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:10.800 different evolutionary path than what we actually in reality took. 0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:13.560 And so this created this sort of idea of neo 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:21.120 Victorian UH technology and you really you think about you 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:24.360 would have advances in certain areas but not advances in others, 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:28.880 and it's really arbitrary where those advances are. So, for example, 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:32.800 in a steampunk world, you might have the equivalent of 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:37.119 personal computer devices, even handheld computer devices, although they'd probably 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:39.920 be clunkier and made out of different materials than what 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:43.719 our current ones are, But you might not have airplanes. 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:49.039 Because the blimps indirigibles are incredibly popular with the steampunk crowd. 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:53.560 It's this idea of this sort of world of of 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:58.320 luxury and uh, everything's a lot more. Uh, it takes 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:00.960 up a lot more space than what we're typically used to. 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:04.960 But I think the person who really kind of nails 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:09.640 why the steampunk aesthetic is so compelling to certain people 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:14.680 is Mark Fraunfelder, who was a he's the editor in 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:17.880 chief of Make magazine and was the co founder of 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:23.000 Boing Boing Yes, And he says the Victorian era was 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:26.640 the great age of the amateur, where non professionals could 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:30.240 contribute to the advancement of science. And because these amateurs 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:33.559 were most often well healed gentleman, great emphasis was placed 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:36.600 on ornamental beauty in their equipment. So the idea here 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:41.360 is that the average person with with the right education 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:45.520 would be able to make advances in science and technology, 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:50.200 whereas today you're talking about really specialized, really advanced fields. Right, 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:53.480 it feels like you have to be part of a 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:56.480 much larger project often in order for you to make 0:06:56.560 --> 0:06:59.720 a big impact in those areas. It's not entirely true, 0:06:59.839 --> 0:07:04.440 but it's more true than not. So the Victorian era 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:07.200 was a time where you could be on the cutting edge. 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:09.320 You could be an average person with a good education 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:12.240 and be on the cutting edge of science and technology 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:14.760 at that time and thus be able to make your 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:17.120 own impact on it. So that is one of the 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:22.560 reasons why it's so compelling. Also with the emphasis on ornamentation, 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:26.560 so um, it's it's funny that you would bring that up. 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:30.160 Was that, well, I mean one of the uh Now, 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:32.200 one of the things that you'll find if you start 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:36.920 looking for UH steampunk and search engine on the computer, 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:38.560 one of the first things you're going to find is 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:43.000 UH clothing. You know, lots and lots of of well, 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:45.960 i mean existing clothing that you know. I'm sure that 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:49.120 people are really excited about because they really wanted to 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:51.840 make lots of bowler hats but couldn't figure out why 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:54.440 no one would buy them or top hats anymore, and 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:57.480 all of a sudden they're going. Steampunk has really increased 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:00.520 the demand for certain articles of clothing. Yes, loves and 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:06.800 vests and pocket watches. Crazy and and some of these 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:11.760 pieces of clothing don't necessarily have any uh added ornamentation 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:15.480 to them. They may very well be essentially a Victorian costume, 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:19.880 but then you would might have a coutrement which makes 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:23.720 that go beyond a period costume and turn it more 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:29.240 into steampunk. Yes. For example, goggles seems extremely popular. Well, 0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:33.400 they almost throw requirement with the steampunk costume. Um. Yes, 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:35.720 And I'm not making fun of anybody who who does 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:40.160 steampunk and likes goggles. It just seems that they're ubiquitous 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:43.000 and it's not uh, well, you think about the early 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:47.319 people who were driving or flying, Um, they wouldn't have 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:50.480 a windscreen necessarily. Yeah, so you you'd see that, you know, 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:52.760 they'd have their their driving outfit where they had the 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:55.839 gloves and the hat with the goggles to keep the 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:59.720 dust out of your eyes. Very necessary. But the funny thing, 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:03.760 and I I find this amusing, but not again not 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:06.800 in a making fun way just sort of, um, that's 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:10.520 kind of funny sort of way. Um, the people who 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:13.280 some of the people who do who dress in the 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:18.880 steampunk fashion embrace the the clothing, will you know, use 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:21.520 unadorned goggles just sort of the same kind of thing. 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:25.360 But I've seen others that have really modified them with 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:31.400 brass fittings, hands flares and things that you know, really 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:34.199 make them stand out. And they're they're very large, and 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:37.360 it's just it's kind of amusing to me because I'm going, Wow, 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:39.800 you're really going out of your way to draw attention 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:42.040 to the goggles. Well, and they might they might have 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:44.560 a to they might have attachments where they have different 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:49.160 filters like glass exactly. Yeah, like a like a magnifying 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:53.400 lens that you can swivel in or out of the way. Well, yeah, 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:55.959 it's it's and again there you have the idea of Well, 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:58.440 the practicality would be if you are a tinkerer, then 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:00.520 you would have this magnifying glass. You can see the 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:03.199 very small intricate parts because you're doing all this work 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:06.400 with your hands, at least in theory. You know. Now, 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:08.480 a lot of the people who are into steampunk do 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:12.360 not necessarily make their own gear. But the folks who do, uh, 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:14.640 take a lot of pride in it, you know, because 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:18.400 again these are works not just of technology or costume, 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:21.280 their works of art. You know, there's there's artistry that 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:25.360 goes into this. Although there are those who will say that, 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:26.840 you know, there are plenty of people out there who 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:29.080 are into steampunk who what they'll do is they'll get 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:31.440 a costume to throw on a pair of goggles. They 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:33.800 might wear a necklace has a gear on it and boom, 0:10:33.840 --> 0:10:36.520 it's steampunk. Uh. Then there are others who will go 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:41.640 into great detail on their costumes and incorporate these really 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:44.839 intricate pieces of equipment and even come up with very 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:49.360 uh whimsical names for for the things, because you know, 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:53.160 they're they're using that Victorian naming convention where it's almost 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:57.120 like Louis Carroll has named all of their items where 0:10:57.200 --> 0:11:00.080 it's it's this odd you know, nothing is nothing, thing 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:04.000 is a simple device. They're all going to be adorned 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:08.480 with these very elaborate names. Um Like, for example, instead 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:11.040 of saying a computer, you might say that it is 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:16.160 a manipulator of random information or something like that. Yeah, 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:19.839 it's um, you know, the the or you it's some 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:23.000 variation on the difference engine, because they're actually that's a 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:26.160 good example to say, if you've ever seen an picture 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:30.880 of the replica of Babbage's difference Engine, people have actually 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:36.880 built the difference engine. Ah. It's a massive device made 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:40.080 out of brass and other medals, and you see all 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:43.000 these gears and things that you turn and that's how 0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:47.760 you work this, this difference engine. That speaks a lot 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:51.120 to the aesthetics of that Victorian era where you've got 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:54.679 you know, it doesn't need to look sleek. It can 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:58.800 look complicated, complicated and even bulky, but it's done in 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:02.959 such a way that it's uh emphasizing the aesthetic not 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:06.760 you know, it's not it doesn't look like a big 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:10.480 clunky piece of equipment ideally unless that was, of course 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:14.400 the intent from the big get go. But yeah, if 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:17.520 you if you look up these devices, you'll often come 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:22.839 across names that are just uh, you know, really tongue 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:26.120 twisters and and you know there's usually an ether thrown 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:29.640 in there somewhere like it uses it uses the ether, 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:34.839 this this nebulous source of energy. Um one uh one 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:38.520 really cool thing about steampunk and it it could be 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:42.080 frustrating for somebody who's getting into it UM who may 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:46.720 need a little bit more UM structure. Is that unlike 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:51.559 other UM hobbyists and cost players and and you know, 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:55.439 groups of of that style. UM, you don't have like 0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:58.640 a Star Trek universe or a Star Wars universe or 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:02.120 a Lord of the Rings. You don't have something that 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:07.400 tells you what is and what isn't steampunk. So for example, 0:13:07.600 --> 0:13:12.120 you have somebody who dresses in Victorian garb and they 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:17.560 are speaking uh, you know English, with the the verbal 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:22.839 expressions that they might use in yes, the vernacular of 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:27.600 the time. However, uh, they might have a uh, they 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:32.360 might use a computer with brass fittings and ornamentation on 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:36.839 the front. Or they might carry ray guns of the 0:13:36.960 --> 0:13:41.040 buck Rogers, talking like old style buck Rogers, you know, 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:44.959 with the big bulgy stuff in the big um cannab 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:48.880 on the on the shooting end. So it could be 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:52.360 anything could be steampunk because there's not you're not having 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:55.240 to go, well, that's cannon or that's not cannon. So 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:57.439 it could be kind of anything you wanted to be. 0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:00.160 If you if you look at UM like you know weather, 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:06.360 you know weather industries, whether the effects companies that did effects. Yeah, 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:09.360 they did the They did a lot of the props 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:12.599 for the Lord of the Rings movies. Um, they have 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:17.920 a division called Dr groad Boards uh and it's uh 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:23.400 Dr gord boards ray guns essentially, and these are the yes, yes, 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:27.040 beautiful devices. But these are all designed after that old 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:32.200 science fiction aesthetic, which definitely is related to steampunk, but 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:37.040 it is not necessarily It isn't isn't because because some 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:40.960 of the ideally the steampunk type stuff should look like 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:45.920 it's technology that runs on Victorian era resources, thus the 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:51.480 steam the steam power being far more nah common than 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:54.200 other forms. Now there are other forms of of this 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:57.240 punk aesthetic to there's diesel punk. Yeah, I was gonna 0:14:57.560 --> 0:14:59.640 mentioned that you had done something on that. Yeah, diesel 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:02.360 punk is a slightly later era. It's usually like World 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:07.400 War One era technology aesthetic. So the aesthetic is different 0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:10.680 the you know, and you would argue that the whatever's 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:12.920 running the technology is a different source of energy, but 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:15.040 it's the same sort of idea that you're taking this 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:18.200 aesthetic from a different time period and applying it to 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:22.240 modern day clothing, electronics, all sorts of stuff. I have 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:24.840 an example that I wanted to mention something that I 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:28.480 thought was really clever in the sense that a lot 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:31.720 of the steampunk projects you'll see are not just beautiful 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:38.760 but are also equally um impractical. But but they're impractical 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:42.320 on purpose. They're not, you know, it's practicality was not 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:45.880 part of the design element. So one of those is 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:49.560 what It's a project that was created by John Knight, 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:53.200 as in, uh, let's get up on a horse and 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:56.760 have a squire Knight he created something that he calls 0:15:57.080 --> 0:16:01.520 the electromagnetic Geospatial Globe and remote view with obligatory goggles 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:06.000 and goggles have to be in there. But this is UH, 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:10.040 this is his version of Google Earth and what it is. 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:12.520 What what he can do is he runs Google Earth 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:15.720 on a computer and this globe, this it looks like 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:20.640 a big brass globe is hooked up to the computer. 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:27.080 So as he uh moves a little UH indicator on 0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:31.760 the physical globe, the virtual globe on Google Earth will 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:36.720 turn and show whatever point is in focus on his 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:40.160 indicator on the screen. So, in other words, it's a 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:45.560 way to navigate Google Earth using a physical globe and 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:49.880 UH it's kind of an interesting um approach. It again 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:56.440 not necessarily practical, but definitely very visually arresting, very pretty. Uh. 0:16:56.600 --> 0:17:00.920 There are a lot of really well known artists within 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:03.880 the steampunk world. Uh, two of them I wanted to 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:06.719 mention in particular. Although there are lots and lots of them, 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:10.040 don't don't think that you know these are like the 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:12.560 end all be all. But one of them in particular 0:17:12.720 --> 0:17:16.960 is known for his his work as as sort of 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:21.879 a pioneer in the steampunk physical Let's make stuff space, 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:26.080 and that's Jake von Slat. Jake von Slat has done 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:28.640 lots and lots and lots of of projects where he's 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:35.399 taken either modern day technology and and put new stuff 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:38.240 on it to make it have a steampunk sort of aesthetic, 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:44.480 or has actually built steampunk style devices from the ground 0:17:44.600 --> 0:17:47.840 up that do something that a modern device could do 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:50.320 in a totally different way. So he's he's taking both 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:53.879 approaches where he's altering something that exists now or building 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:57.560 based upon the old methods of building. UM. He's featured 0:17:57.600 --> 0:18:00.760 in in Make magazine actually up of years ago, and 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:03.200 I have an article on the site how Steampunk Works, 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:05.960 and I have some of his work on there as well. Uh. 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:09.080 He has a website called the Steampunk Workshop where he 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:12.120 actually shows you if you want to build your own 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:16.800 steampunk devices. He has do it yourself guides on how 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:19.080 to do them. Now, for people who want to get 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:21.359 into this, you have to be really comfortable with using 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:25.080 things that allow you to work with metals, like soldering 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:28.000 is really important. Uh, you might need you might need 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.320 access to special tools to be able to work metals 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:33.480 in a way so that you can shape them and 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:36.280 not just metals, but would as well, you know, all 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:40.359 sorts of materials. So you're it's for someone who has 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:44.000 like a workshop space that has uh the ability to 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:46.640 use or the access to use these sort of tools. 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:49.840 It's not necessarily something that you can do just you know, 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:53.200 go home and fire up the website. Oh well cool, 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:57.480 I'm gonna make my own steampunk laptop now. Because a 0:18:57.520 --> 0:19:01.639 lot of this involves uh, eating things and in curiosity 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:04.680 shops or antique shops or or even like you know, 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:06.840 there used to be a shop near where I live 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:12.080 that sells all sorts of old cabinet fittings, and you 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:13.960 you could go to a place like that and sort 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:15.880 through and say, oh, this has the look that I'm 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:17.840 going for, and you take that and you might repurpose 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:20.120 it for something totally different, like instead of this being 0:19:20.240 --> 0:19:23.800 a cabinet handle, it's going to be the corner the 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:28.320 top left corner of a computer display. That kind of thing. Well, 0:19:28.440 --> 0:19:31.600 you have to be able to, you know, manipulate that 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:34.040 metal in whatever way you may have to trim stuff 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:37.480 off or reshape something, so you you may need some 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:40.920 special tools for a lot of these d I Y projects. 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:43.800 But he he actually goes through what he does to 0:19:44.359 --> 0:19:48.120 to build out these things. And another pretty well known 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:50.920 artist in fact, I remember seeing some of his work, 0:19:51.440 --> 0:19:54.800 uh in the sci fi series Where House thirteen. So 0:19:54.840 --> 0:19:57.679 Where House thirteen, you know, you've got these these interesting 0:19:57.720 --> 0:20:03.440 pieces of technology that are in artis office where he's 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:06.640 got like a computer that has these old typewriter keys 0:20:06.680 --> 0:20:09.360 instead of regular keys. Those were built by a guy 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:13.879 named Richard doc Nagi also known as data Manser and 0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:19.479 data Manswer has done some really amazing work with custom keyboards, laptops, uh, 0:20:19.640 --> 0:20:23.480 desktop computers. He's really created some neat stuff, and not 0:20:23.720 --> 0:20:27.119 just in the steampunk aesthetic. He's also branched out. He 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:30.400 did some in a sort of an Art Deco inspired 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:33.200 approach as well. So he's he's tried a couple of 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:38.720 different things. He takes commissions um, and his work is 0:20:38.840 --> 0:20:42.680 really really labor intensive, so they are expensive things to buy. 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:46.679 But on the other hand, these are devices that are 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:52.560 made by hand from materials that are more expensive than plastic. 0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:57.720 So the expense is in not just the labor but 0:20:57.800 --> 0:20:59.920 also the artistry that goes into it. So you know, 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:01.679 you might sit there and think, oh, my gosh, that's 0:21:01.720 --> 0:21:06.479 a keyboard. I can't spend twelve buying a keyboard from 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:08.480 my computer. But then you think, all right, when you 0:21:08.600 --> 0:21:11.200 factor in the materials that went into it, how much 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:13.960 time was spent for him to track down all the 0:21:14.040 --> 0:21:16.800 different stuff that he used to make it, and also 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:20.399 just the hours of of work that he puts into it, 0:21:20.520 --> 0:21:24.040 then you start figuring, Okay, now it's it's a work 0:21:24.080 --> 0:21:27.040 of art that I'm buying, not just a functional piece 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:29.479 of technology. Yeah. Yeah, well, I mean there are there 0:21:29.480 --> 0:21:36.320 are people who actually make their living modifying people's living spaces. UM. 0:21:36.720 --> 0:21:39.440 I went to a Modern Victorian which is at mad 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:44.119 vic dot com, and they basically remake people's homes into 0:21:44.760 --> 0:21:50.400 steampunk like environments. Um. You know, wood burning stoves and um, 0:21:50.840 --> 0:21:55.520 you know, portholes and things that you might see big 0:21:56.600 --> 0:21:59.400 big gears that you would turn in order to open 0:21:59.480 --> 0:22:01.840 the door and of a regular door knob. Yes, yes, 0:22:01.920 --> 0:22:03.399 I mean just that that kind of thing. And if 0:22:03.400 --> 0:22:06.280 you've got the uh, either the ability to do it 0:22:06.359 --> 0:22:09.240 yourself or the wherewithal to pay someone who knows what 0:22:09.359 --> 0:22:14.320 they're doing, um, you can do that too. But just 0:22:14.480 --> 0:22:19.120 the creativity that that's involved in doing that, and even 0:22:19.280 --> 0:22:21.480 even something as simple as you know, the keyboards that 0:22:21.600 --> 0:22:26.000 you see with the typewriter keys instead of uh computer keys. Um, 0:22:26.160 --> 0:22:29.600 it's just kind of fascinating. I saw one computer desk 0:22:29.680 --> 0:22:33.439 that had uh pipes behind it or you know at 0:22:33.480 --> 0:22:35.120 the back where it made it look sort of as 0:22:35.240 --> 0:22:37.800 the as though the computer we're sitting in as part 0:22:37.880 --> 0:22:40.960 of a pipe organ and it was just kind of 0:22:41.000 --> 0:22:44.639 cool the the idea behind that. Um. But yeah, I mean, 0:22:44.680 --> 0:22:47.440 these these are all I mean, there's there's no large 0:22:47.520 --> 0:22:50.080 company that I can think of that that makes this 0:22:50.320 --> 0:22:55.080 stuff in in amounts that make it would make it 0:22:55.240 --> 0:22:59.160 cheap for the average person to own one of these. 0:22:59.320 --> 0:23:01.200 You know, this is all done by hand, but you 0:23:01.280 --> 0:23:04.080 know you can also say, uh, you know, it's it's 0:23:04.680 --> 0:23:07.639 done custom work. Not everybody is going to own something 0:23:07.760 --> 0:23:10.480 like this, Um, there are a lot of one of 0:23:10.520 --> 0:23:12.959 the kind pieces out there. Yeah, and it's also an 0:23:12.960 --> 0:23:16.879 opportunity for uh, for you know, the casual hacker to 0:23:16.960 --> 0:23:20.960 maybe try his or her hand at something like this. Yeah. 0:23:21.000 --> 0:23:22.840 I mean this is you know, their plans and and 0:23:23.359 --> 0:23:25.239 and things like this, and not all the projects are 0:23:25.240 --> 0:23:27.760 super complex. And that's that's sort of again, that's the 0:23:27.840 --> 0:23:32.760 whole point that uh that was made about the appeal 0:23:33.040 --> 0:23:36.280 of steampunk in the first places, that you are creating 0:23:36.680 --> 0:23:38.840 something that's much more personal to you. You know, it's 0:23:38.880 --> 0:23:43.200 not this mass produced piece of technology that looks exactly 0:23:43.280 --> 0:23:47.560 like every single other version of that particular device, right 0:23:47.720 --> 0:23:50.800 like every iPhone, like every iPhone four looks like every 0:23:50.840 --> 0:23:54.040 other iPhone four until you put like a skin on 0:23:54.119 --> 0:23:56.399 it or put a case around it or whatever. But 0:23:56.560 --> 0:23:58.560 you know, on its own, they all look the same. 0:23:59.000 --> 0:24:02.000 And it's this the approach to mass manufacturer that has 0:24:02.040 --> 0:24:06.200 created core sort of a homogenized approach to technology. And 0:24:06.640 --> 0:24:08.920 this is kind of a rejection of that, saying I 0:24:09.040 --> 0:24:12.600 want something that has more personality to it. It's just 0:24:12.680 --> 0:24:16.119 that this is a personality that evokes a very specific 0:24:17.200 --> 0:24:21.520 feel and era. So it's interesting because every year that passes. 0:24:21.600 --> 0:24:25.200 I think, Okay, steampunk has gotta like that. That fat 0:24:25.400 --> 0:24:28.639 is got to be on the decline by now, because 0:24:29.320 --> 0:24:31.800 there are artists who get into it and they're really 0:24:31.880 --> 0:24:34.240 really active in it for a couple of years, and 0:24:34.320 --> 0:24:36.120 then some of them are saying, you know, I really 0:24:36.160 --> 0:24:38.320 want to do other stuff. I had fun with that, 0:24:38.520 --> 0:24:41.240 it was great, But as an artist, I want to grow, 0:24:41.320 --> 0:24:43.760