Steam Machines

Steampunk isn't just design -- for many, it's a lifestyle. The growing, nationwide movement is about customizing current modern-day tools, electronics and furnishings to give them a Victorian flair, rejecting the pre-packaged, plastic-molded vision of the future as it's sold by Microsoft and IKEA. Steampunks will redesign iPhones and flat-screen TVs, encasing them in burnished brass or dark leather. They'll replace laptop keys with those taken from vintage typewriters. They'll even re-build motorcycles and cars with an eye to the 19th century. It's not done out of a technophobic impulse, though William Gibson's 1984 novel Neuromancer and the sci-fi author's term "cyberpunk" provided steampunk with a catalyst. Instead, the designers revel in making the commonplace beautiful, aesthetically referencing the past while maintaining the functionality necessary for the present.

"There are many different interpretations, but for me, it boils down to the intersection of technology and romance," says Jake von Slatt, a Boston-based designer and proprietor of The Steampunk Workshop (www.steampunkworkshop.com), where he exhibits his own work and the designs of those he admires. Although he’s been asked to customize objects for sale, von Slatt says the time and cost involved are prohibitive. "It's so much work to do one of my keyboards. They can cost up to $1,000. A friend of mine who goes by the name Datamancer customizes them for people, and they go for about that much. He's going to try to make a living off them. One of them sold on eBay for $4,300."

A Mac mini hard drive steampunked by Dave Veloz

On the west coast, the Kinetic Steam Workshop takes steampunk a step further -- creating large-scale installations that don't just look like they belong in a Jules Verne novel but are actually powered by steam. "The aim is to be, rather than to seem," says Sean Orlando, one of the Oakland-based organization's founders. Orlando was the visionary behind the Steampunk Tree House (www.steampunktreehouse.com), a 40-foot-tall, custom-built housing unit with steam-powered plumbing and 10 steam whistles, among other flourishes. He exhibited the Tree House at last year's Burning Man, and it will make an appearance at Coachella this year, 'round about the time Orlando embarks on another large-scale work: outfitting a 46-foot paddleboat with steam power to cruise down the Hudson River from Troy to Manhattan in mid-summer (courtesy of the Hudson River Project).

Also opening up in New York this summer is TJG Engineering Co., a men's custom clothier (offering both vintage and their own line) and steampunk shop to be located in Nolita. Run by Giovanni James, the lead singer of neo-vaudevillian performance troupe the James Gang, the store will also offer customers a variety of designs for personal electronics. James says his iPhone designs, for instance, will go for between $250 and $500, depending on the complexity; he'll also offer modifications for flat-screen TVs and a stunning motorcycle, outfitted in leather, brushed aluminum and polished brass, which he expects to cost around $75,000. "It's vintage and futuristic at the same time," he says. "I love the idea of meshing different time periods and different sensibilities -- you wind up with something entirely new." He's going to manufacture 25 of the vehicles and see how they sell, but senses a hunger in the market for the sort of rugged good looks steampunk provides. He expects they'll sell out fast. "I want to be the Ralph Lauren of this movement," he says. "I want to bring the aesthetic to the people."

Photos courtesy of www.steampunkworkshop.com