will give you the key to many answers regarding the philosophy and the artistic expressions used inSteampunk.Steampunk is more that just working with the mechanical symbols of the Victorian era. It also is an effort toadvance technology while still preserving traditional values. A perfect example is Uri Hofi, an Israeli creator who is considered by many to be a phenomenon in the craft of traditional and modern blacksmithing.In his keynote address to the California Steampunk Convention 2008, Mr.Jake von Slattsaid, "If you wantsomething done right, do it yourself." It is what we fully understood here at Egophobia, and it paid off. Thisspecial edition brings along with articles written by established steampunk figures or critics as Mr. Jake vonSlatt, G.D Falksen, Duncan Lawie or Vicente Gutierrez, articles and interviews with people who severalmonths ago never thought that steampunk would reach the shores of Romania.It is the case of the flamboyant Dr ASI, (Dr. Adrian-Silvan Ionescu) an eccentric presence in the past 35 yearson the streets of Bucharest, who is also an experienced scholar and world wide expert in the 19th century Romanian history, and a true aficionado of the spirit defined by the Steampunk movement. He graciously offered me an interview in Chicago while traveling as a guest and lecturer of the International Museum of Photography and Film from Rochester, New York, and also sent us in exclusivity a wonderful and rareresearch paper about the fashion in the Romanian Lands between 1711-1950.For those who may think that I am not „ steampunk enough” in the way in which I conduct this exploration, I want to tell that unveiling steampunk is first of all a process of offering information about crafts and the 19-th century, a real platform on which people can identify with the phenomenon:„
I find myself embracing Steampunk to my bosom, and ardently hope that it will coalesce into a real movement with a coherent philosophy and lasting effect. I think we need the notions of craftsmanship, pride in one's work, the desire to sail off the edge of the world a'la Monty Python's pirate ship, the sense of adventure and play -- anything to counteract the deadening corporate ideology, the plastic pre-packaged news, the meaningless grayness spread by the truly insane notion that our emotions, our lives, our veryworld can be expanded by the movement of little green pieces of paper...”
This incredible statement belongs to one of my guests, Arnon Kartmazov, who is a blacksmith from Portland,Oregon, and does not work directly with steam like Sean Orlando, nor dresses in steampunk style, like Dr ASI, but identifies himself with the movement through a vision for a life liberated by corporate greed anddependency to “locked in a box” technology. To me, his urge to save and nurture the traditionalcraftsmanship reflects a pure and healthy steampunk attitude. Steampunk is also about recycling resources,respect for our nature and environment, about the lost sense of respect for the past.In a highly emotional interview, New York artist Eric Lindveit recounts childhood memories of his fatherand grandfather who, with a high regard towards tools and restorative spirit, made things with their ownhands because „it just made sense” to do it so. Eric lives in a world, which erased merciless entire blocks of beautiful 19th century architecture and hundred years old trees, to replace them with insipid cubiclesdesigned for the generic man of the future. His breathtaking monumental sculptures with bark simulacradone from recycled paper reflect the symbolic reaction of a diseased and amputated environment.British artist Stephen Rothwell came to my attention through a note written inFolderol, one of my favoritesteampunk media websites. Like Eric Lindveit, he is fascinated by old books and ephemera and isreconstructing fragments of an imagined Victorian time through collage, photographic materials and mixedmedia. Since he is working directly with automatons, mutants and Victorian settings, his work has theunmistakable flavor of the steampunk art. Interestingly enough, as in our interview withPierre Materr, hedoes not perceive himself as a steampunk artist. The interview was conducted by Alina Ro
ş
u, a young andtalented student in foreign languages and literature from the University of Bucharest, who makes with us herdebut as a writer and also translator of an interview done by Vicente Gutierrez
with Japanese steampunk watchmaker Haruo Suekichi. Ruxandra Meriluca Georgescu, the youngest collaborator of this edition,
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A contact of me likes Steampunk, I mail him about this here.