It’s fitting that a fringe subculture based on Victorian-era science-fiction is gaining such a following here in Victoria.
With the third annual Victoria Steampunk Expo coming up, fans of the genre are again planning to dress up and geek out for a phenomenon that’s steadily gaining popularity all over the world.
For the uninitiated, steampunk is a genre of science fiction set in Victorian England or “Wild West” America, and it imagines a world where steam-powered devices and clockwork gadgets replace modern-day technology. Drawing influence from authors like H.G. Wells and Jules Vern, fans of the genre have imagined and even created things ranging from steam-powered cars and computers to weapons and prosthetic limbs.
Husband-and-wife duo Lawrence Maynard and Brigid Skelton have been to both previous events; this year presents another opportunity to get together with other fans and show off their handmade costumes.
“It was Brigid who got into it first,” says Lawrence. “I just sort of followed along. But [event organizer] Justin Jordan Stratford is actually a longtime friend, and I was one of the first people he contacted trying to set it all up.”
For Skelton, the convention is all about the elaborate costumes.
“I’ve always loved costuming, ever since I was little,” she says. “I loved being part of the Society for Creative Anachronisms, but they put a lot of emphasis on being historically accurate. Steampunk is science fiction, set in a time that never really existed, so you get to create your own vision. Nobody can say you’re doing it wrong.”
Victoria local James Ketter knows a thing or two about costumes himself, having won the costume contest at the first event. His wood and metal prosthetic arm, featuring a fully articulated hand, was unlike anything the event-goers had ever seen.
“It’s more than just stylized science fiction, I think,” says Ketter. “Things have to be functional, useful, as well as beautiful.”
Ketter set out to create something different from what he had already seen.
“My research uncovered several iterations, but they were usually just a glove with some interesting bits attached. I wanted to show how the technology might actually work.”
The result was one of the most striking pieces so far at the expo.
“I had a few people ask me if I had an actual arm inside,” he says with a grin. “So I think it turned out fairly well.”
Victoria Steampunk Expo
April 20-22
Empress Hotel
Thank you for a lovely article, Matthew. The name of the event is actually Victoria Steam Exposition III and it runs from April 20 to 22nd 2012. Zandra and Jordan Stratford do an amazing job of organizing these delightfully quirky and genuinely beautiful events, helped by many enthusiastic volunteers.