A Tribute To Steampunk: An Art Movement

Somebody asked me this morning to explain what steampunk is. It’s a very interesting thing to try to describe. I love steampunk style, but it’s tricky to put into words. It’s kinda like modding modern day technologies into old-fashioned non-scary looking monsters. It’s a little bit of goth mixed with cyberpunk mixed with brass and wood. It’s many times a mixture of knobs, handles, screws, hinges and springs.

There’s a whole Victorian meets sci-fi look to it. And, of course, a lot of times there is steam in the design. The really unique thing about steampunk art is that there are usually a lot of pieces that wouldn’t be considered steampunk individually. It’s when they are all put together that it comes alive into a steampunk creation. If someone asked you to explain steampunk, what would you say? From what I’ve read, steampunk originated when William Gibson and Bruce Sterling released the book The Difference Engine. And, of course, steampunk is heavily influenced by the Industrial Revolution and the production of machines. Steampunk is really a whole sub-culture incorporating fashion, design, technology, literature and media.

We have featured a ton of steampunk designs here on Bit Rebels. I think the part of steampunk that I’m most attracted to is the whole element of imagination. It’s all about a fantasy Victorian science fiction world where anything is possible and where machines, circuits and mechanisms are all truly beautiful. In a steampunk world, anything can happen. There are lots of places you can go online to get a sampling of steampunk art; however, in my opinion, Steampunkd is without a doubt the number one resource on the Internet for the best steampunk images. If you are interested at all in steampunk, you gotta check them out. The site is incredible! I’ve included a few images below that I found there.