EgoPHobia #18

Adrian Ioni��:
~ Interview with Johnny Payphone [ROM�N�] / [ENGLISH]
~ Steampunk and Past-Future-Imagism [ROM�N�] / [ENGLISH] / [FRAN�AIS]
~ O imersie �n aburi cu Jake von Slatt [I] [ENGLISH original @ Bostodelphia]
~ Steampunk Gallery [ROM�N�] / [ENGLISH]
~ Steampunk Links

Steampunk american, biciclete �i activism
-interviu cu activistul american Steampunk Johnny Payphone-

de Adrian Ioni��

click for the English version

Doi tipi s-au furi�at pe aleea din spatele cl�dirii mele. Lola Chicago �i Johnny Payphone. Au aflat c� am cel mai mare boiler cu aburi din Chicago �i pl�nuiesc s� sape o gaur� �n perete. �i privesc �i �i aud prin varianta miniatural� a Telectroscopului meu inspirat de Paul St. George, �i m� mir cum vor reu�i ei s� aduc� �n La Villita un Bagger 288 f�r� s� treac� neobserva�i.

Lola, care lucreaz� ca t�mplar �n timpul zilei este cross-dancer �i c�nt�rea�� de cabaret �n timpul nop�ii. Ea are un atelier de 700 de metri p�tra�i aflat la o arunc�tur� de b�� de cl�direa mea, �n care se g�se�te o colec�ie cu cele mai bizare obiecte imaginabile.

Johnny este chintesen�a activistului Steam Punk, membru al organizatiei Chicago Rat Patrol, ambasador cultural �n Ghana prin Sister Cities International, �i “ministru de afaceri publice” pentru varianta regional� a festivalului Burning Man din Noua Zeeland�.

Dec�t s� �mi d�r�me zidul mai bine �i invit �n�untru, sacrific c�teva dintre trabucurile mele cubaneze, deschid o sticl� de Lagavulin Scotch whisky afumat, mestec�m ni�te frunze de leu�tean, �i vorbim despre Steam Punk. Lola, care va apare �ntr-un interviu viitor pe Egophobia, semneaz� fotografia, �n timp ce Johnny s-a introdus natural f�r� nici o sugestie din partea mea:

JP: M� numesc Johnny Payphone, numele pe care m-i l-am asumat ca profesionist. Cred c� este bine s� men�ionez c� m� trag dintr-o familie modest� de fermieri, familie cu o deosebit� apreciere fa�� de trecut �i simplicitate �n via��. �n copil�rie nu m-i sau oferit prea multe juc�rii, �n schimb p�rin�ii au investit �n mine experien�e de via�� cum sunt coloniile de vacan�� i excursii, sau �mi d�deau de exemplu, o pereche de picioroange pe care s� m� ca��r, dec�t o juc�rie care se va distruge �n timp; asta pentru c� simbolul sau experien�a fizic� direct� sunt mai importante �n via�� dec�t obiectul material �n sine.

AI: O filosofie de via�� dificil� �n ziua de azi c�nd se pare c� tr�im �ntr-o lume diferit�. Cum te afecteaz� aceast� schimbare?
JP: �n cei 30 de ani care au trecut de atunci, lumea, sau cel pu�in zis America, a devenit un loc consumerist �ngrozitor, a�a c� tot ceea ce fac vine �n reac�ie advers� cu aceast� situa�ie. �ncerc s� reamintesc oamenilor c� ceea ce este important �n via�a sunt prietenii, o m�ncare bun�, timpul pe care �l petrecem cu cei pe care �i iubim, activit��ile de care ne bucur�m f�c�nd lucruri cu propriile noastre m�ini, �i nici de departe ceea ce americanii tind s� doreasc�, ce ar fi un automobil luxos, ultimul tip de televizor, diverse gadgeturi electronice, care simt c� nu fac dec�t s� ne separe de propria noastr� via��, ocupa�i pe un telefon celular sau ad�nci�i �ntr-un SMS sau program de televiziune �n care vedem ni�te tipi construind motociclete , c�nd noi �n�ine am putea fi �n locul lor construindu-le.
Lumea a fost ademenit� �n afara imediate�ii oferite de propria via��.

AI: Cum reconciliezi aceste sentimente contradictorii produse de via�a �ntr-o societate consumerist� �i dorin�a de g�si un refugiu �n trecut?
JP: La suprafa�a a� putea ap�rea ca fiind tehnofob, c� nu �mi place tehnologia, dar nu este a�a, dimpotriv� sunt mul�i steampunkers obseda�i de tehnologie, care doresc s� se �ntoarc� �ntr-un timp �n care totul era u�or de �n�eles de omul obi�nuit, �i tot at�t de u�or de reparat sau men�inut. Motivul pentru care Steam Punk graviteaz� �n jurul acestui interval de timp de la 1890, este pentru c� a fost ultima perioad� din istoria omenirii c�nd puteam s� ne a�tept�m de la un absolvent de liceu s� �n�eleag� principiile ce stau �n spatele cunoa�terii umane, s� priveasc� la obiect pe din�untru sau pe dinafar�, s� �n�eleag� cum func�ioneaz� �i s� fie capabil sa �l repare dac� era necesar.

AI: Chiar m� �ntrebam de unde vine aceast� obsesie cu epoca victorian�?
JP: Poti s� prive�ti lucrurile �n termenii structurii de clas� din timpurile victoriene c�nd aveam o clas� de �arani, una de me�te�ugari, �i o clas� de sus care consuma produsele oferite de me�te�ugari. �n Steam Punk, foarte mul�i sunt obseda�i �n a face lucruri stralucitoare, coper�i dragu�e pentru computere sau televizoare, dar pe aceea�i scen� sunt �i oameni interesa�i �n re�nvierea unei tehnologii, salvarea de la extinc�ie a unor ma�ini de aburi sau a unor tehnici fotografice abandonate. Desigur, mai exist� un element, �i acesta este re�ntoarcerea la un timp c�nd oamenii aveau maniere, c�nd se �mbr�cau “ca s� ias� afar�“ �i se �ngrijeau de modul �n care arat�.

AI: Ast�zi ai ales o uniform� de lucru...
JP: Nu uita c� am venit preg�tit s� v�d camera boilerului... Acum, nu a� spune c� nu ai libertatea de a ar�ta �i ap�rea a�a cum dore�ti. Eu �nsumi am multe tatuaje care m� pun �n lumina unui rebut �n societatea modern�, dar voi da bine�e cuiva care trece pe l�nga mine pe strad� chiar dac� se uit� la mine ca la un freak f�r� s� �mi r�spund� la salut. Chestii de genul acesta. �nainte exista o legatur� “uman�” �ntre oameni. Desigur, dac� tr�iai �ntr-un ora� mic, ajungeai s� cuno�ti pe fiecare, �i acest fapt lucra ca un fel de reinfor�are social� �i control asupra unei criminalita�i pe care ast�zi o avem cu psihopa�i, nu zic, acest lucru se �nt�mpla �i �nainte, dar aceast� reinfor�are dispare �ntr-o lume �n care nu ne cunoa�tem vecinii, nu �tim la ce s� ne a�tept�m din partea lor, nu �tim la ce ne putem a�tepta din partea noastr�, �i a�a mai departe. Din nefericire, ca rezultat al acestei deconect�ri pe care tehnologia a impus-o vie�ii noastre, oamenii au devenit tot mai singuratici, �i felul �n care generezi un criminal sau un psihopat este prin refuzul de ai oferi compasiune umana. Atunci c�nd cineva arat� semne de alienare, compasiunea trebuie extins� c�tre el ca o punte �i trebuie s� �i ajutam. Ce se �ntampl� �n schimb, �n societatea de azi, ei continu� s� primeasc� ajutor social, dar nimeni, absolut nimeni nu exist� �n via�a lor. O situa�ie care �nraut��e�te alienarea �n loc s� o u�ureze.

AI: Te rog s� �mi spui ceva despre obiectele tale.
JP: S�-�i spun sincer sunt genul de om care g�se�te foarte dificil s� creeze art� care nu este func�ional�. �n acest sens am �ncercat s� �n�eleg societa�ile nomadice precum “American Indians Move“ care niciodat� nu au avut o cas� permanent�. Ei nu �i puteau permite s� care cu ei lucruri non-func�ionale a�a c� au transformat �n art� tot ceea ce aveau. Acesta este un aspect care, pentru me�te�ugarul victorian �inea de continuitatea din tat� �n fiu a me�ter�ugului, �n timp ce ast�zi noi nu avem nici un fel de leg�tur� cu creatorul obiectului de peste ocean, care este anonim. Pe vremuri poate c� aveai doar un scaun, dar �l cuno�teai pe cel care l-a f�cut, a�a cum cuno�teai �i pe bunicul s�u care f�cea �i el scaune, �i a�a mai departe. Pe vremea aceea noi aveam o conec�ie direct� �n via��. Bunicul meu a fost fermier, dar el �i repara singur toate ma�in�riile din atelierul s�u. Acolo am �nv��at s� sudez, iar ast�zi �mi fac proiectele la Butler Street Foundry din Bridgeport.

AI: Cum se produce acest transfer de personalitate �ntre tine �i obiect?
JP: Tot ceea ce fac este func�ional �ntr-un fel sau altul, chiar dac� rezultatul este o parodie, sau non-func�ional prin ceea ce reprezint�. �ntr-un sens, pot spune c� iau un obiect func�ional �i �l transform �ntr-unul mai pu�in func�ional, dar am mari probleme �n a m� exprima pe o cale pur artistic�.
�ntotdeauna doresc s� lucrez la o forj� obiecte simple, precum o lingur� sau o furculi��, sau ceva ce pot s� ofer cuiva care poate s� o foloseasc�. �n ceea ce prive�te arta aceasta lipsita de forme pe care o vedem ast�zi �n galerii, cred c� o mare parte din valoarea ei este bazat� pe perep�ia comunit��ii de art�. La sf�r�itul zilei, ceea ce fac, poate c� nu are nici o valoare artistic�, dar pot s� �l folosesc, cum sunt bicicletele, transform�ri de obiecte, �i lucruri de uz.

AI: C�t de important� este folosirea materialelor �n Steam Punk?
JP: Steam Punk, ca expresie nu este limitat de material sau dimensiune. Cunosc mul�i arti�ti care sunt implica�i �n fashion-design �i care sunt foarte creativi. Tot ce este mic �n dimensiune poate fi realizat u�or �n atelierul improvizat de la subsol sau din garaj. Obiectele mari cost� mai scump, dar avem exemple precum sunt Neverwas Haul, ce este o cladire victoriana pe roate, sau cea mai mare sculptura din lume facut� din fier vechi, FOREVERTRON, o alc�tuire conceput� de Dr. Evermore pentru a lansa �n eter un ou uria� din cupru, de asemenea Kinetic Steam Works, un grup de arti�ti care angajeaz� motoare cu aburi pentru a ac�iona art� cinetic�, precum un impresionant Steam Punk Tree House prezentat anul trecut la festivalul Burning Man. din Black Rock City, California...

AI: Ai lucrat �n trecut cu vreo galerie de art� sau un muzeu?
JP: Am pus c�teva dintre ma�in�riile mele �n galerii, dar noi avem aceast� etichet� de Outsider Art sau Folk Art, care este o insult� pentru c� presupune c� dac� nu e�ti educat �ntr-o institu�ie de art�, sau nu e�ti prezentat �n galerii, nu e�ti artist, ci mai degrab� o curiozitate excentric� care se �nt�mpl� s� fac� art�. Presa de ast�zi, New York Times, de exemplu, se concentreaz� asupra produselor de Steam Punk, cum ar fi o modificare adus� computerului pentru a ar�ta de mod� veche, dar adev�rata expresie exist� �n stilul de via��, o decizie pe care o iei ca s� o �mbog��e�ti, lu�nd tot ceea ce este mai bun dintr-o perioad� istoric�, edit�nd �n acela�i timp o eliminare a p�r�ilor rele.

AI: A� vrea sa aud mai multe de la tine despre Steam Punk �i stil de via��.
JP: A� putea spune c� am fost Steam Punk �nainte de a auzi despre acest termen. Pentru mine, Steam Punk este o expresie a stilului de via��. Exist� exemple precum compatriotul t�u Dr. ASI, (Dr. Adrian Silvan Ionescu) prezentat recent de Esquire Magazine, care �i extinde stilul de via�a �napoi �n 1800, ca �i cum am spune, acesta este timpul �n care am fost menit s� m� nasc, acesta va fi modul �n care m� voi comporta. Apoi Dr. Evermore din Wisconsin care este un artist ce face obiecte din de�euri metalice �i le semneaz� cu afirma�ii false din 1800, �i care apoi, arat� prea futuristic pentru o expresie Steam Punk �i nu �tii precis dac� te transport� �n trecut sau �n viitor, sau este o combina�ie a unei expresii mixte.

AI: Din nou, Johnny, cu riscul de a m� repeta, a� vrea s� aud mai mult despre stilul t�u de via��.
JP: Nu ma uit la televizor, nu am un televizor. Nu cred c� este un mod acceptabil de a-�i petrece timpul. Ca fiin�e umane, c��i ani avem de tr�it pe P�m�nt pentru ca s� �i petrecem privind gunoiul mediatic de la televizor? Asta este o �ncercare pe care trebuie s� o �nvingem. Eu tr�iesc via�a unui nomad �n jurul festivalurilor lumii. Sunt �ntors recent de la un festival din Australia, �i trebuie s� spun, tot ceea ce am, trebuie s� fie func�ional �i redus la un num�r minim de bagaje. C�latoresc cu trenul. Simt c� este o forma mai plina de demnitate dec�t s� zbor cu avionul. Sunt compromisuri pe care trebuie s� la fac, folosesc bicicleta �n loc de automobil. Niciodat� nu am avut o ma�in�, asta nu �nseamn� c� nu a� considera un camion �n care s� pot tr�i, o motocicleta cu consum redus. Un prieten, din San Francisco, Chicken John, �i-a convertit camioneta pe za� de cafea folosind un gazifier. El a observat c� cafenelele arunc� bidoane �ntregi de za� pe zi, �i a copiat un model de convertire al cocenilor de porumb folosit de fermieri �n timpul razboiului. Este un procedeu simplu, tot ce ��i trebuie este un aparat care s� ��i aduc� materialul la o temperatur� suficient de �nalt� pentru a produce un gaz pe care �l ata�ezi direct de carburator. Practic nu trebuie s� faci nici un fel de modificare a motorului. Pentru mine aceasta este o dovad� despre ce se petrece azi �n lume �i de unde a venit aceast� conspira�ie global� care ne �ine �n dependen�� de benzin� �n timp ce continu�m s� ucidem oameni pentru a o men�ine. Este oribil, c�nd ne g�ndim c� energia cade gratuit din cer.

AI: Conspira�ie global� zici?
JP: Asta ne aduce �napoi �n timp la perioada anilor de �nceput a superstructurilor coloniale globale, c�nd companii ca Standard Oil, sau Proctor & Gamble au conspirat s� dezvolte �n lumea a treia ceea ce numim Banana Republics, pentru ca s� le extrag� resursele naturale �i s� pun� bazele unei societ��i de consum �n America. Drept dovad�, noi obi�nuiam s� avem copaci �i parcuri sau �ez�tori populare unde mergeam s� dans�m, iar acum copacii au fost t�ia�i �i �nlocui�i cu locuri de parcare, magazine de arme, alcool, arme, alcool, arme... Avem mai mult� sau mai pu�in� suferin�� uman�? Pot s� spun c� vad �n fiecare zi s�r�cie, analfabetism �i foamete �n ora�ele noastre �n timp ce noi ar trebui s� fim cea mai binecuvantata �ar� pe p�m�nt, liderul Lumii Libere, �i s� avem cea mai �nalt� calitate a vie�ii �n lume. Este o ru�ine pentru America pentru c� nu are grij� de sine �nsu�i c�nd se implic� �n conflictele altor popoare c�nd noi nu am reu�it s� ne rezolv�m propriile probleme. De aceea, c�nd a c�zut acel pod �n Minneapolis toat� lumea a fost �ocat�, avem poduri care cad sub noi �n timp ce cheltuim sume far� precedent �n r�zboaie pentru petrol, pe cealalta parte a lumii. Este cutremurator c� nu mai po�i s� ai �ncredere s� p�e�ti nici m�car pe strad�.

AI: Huhh, este cineva �n particular care a avut o influen�� asupra viziunii tale ?
JP: Bunicii mei au avut o influen�� enorm�, de asemenea me�te�ugari care au creat lucruri pe care le-au visat, precum Dr. Evermore sau Jean Tingley, care face sculpturi cinetice ce se autodistrug la sf�r�it. �mi place acest fel de ireveren�� n art�, unde ai ceva ce este art�, dar care se proiecteaz� nefolositor �i lipsit de valoare la sf�r�itul showului.

AI: Ce poti s� spui de Hollywood?
JP: Hollywood a copiat anumite lucruri la mod� �i le-a popularizat tinerilor. Filmele Steam Punk care exprim� retro-futurism, create de Hollywood sunt un fiasco, precum “Wild, Wild, West” (1999). “Chitty, Chitty, Bang Bang, “ (1968) este destul de bun. SF-ul victorian inspirat de Jules Verne ne-a influen�at pe mul�i dintre noi �i Disney, desigur a f�cut filme pe aceast� tem�, dar cred c� oamenii tind s� resping� mass media atunci c�nd au acest stil de via��.

AI: E�ti membru al organiza�iei Rat Patrol din Chicago.
JP: Am un program �n care facem biciclete pentru copii negri �i s�raci din ghetto. Ace�tia sunt copii f�ra un model pozitiv �n via�a lor. �i �nv��m s� repare biciclete, dar ceea ce �i �nv��m cu adev�rat este s� �i rezolve problemele de via�� “fa�� n fa��”, prin cuvinte dec�t prin violen�� sau �mpu�c�turi. �i �nv��m c� drogurile nu sunt calea care te face s� r�zbe�ti �n lume �i le d�m inspira�ie unde s� g�seasc� c�i de a ie�i din ghetto, cu speran�a c� �ntr-o zi ei vor veni �napoi �i aduce ceva pozitiv �n schimb.

AI: Spune te rog cititorilor no�tri ceva despre c�l�toria �n Ghana.
JP: Reiese c� Accra, capitala Ghanei este ora� �nfr��it cu Chicago, �i am �nt�lnit �ntr-o zi pe cineva care era trimis aici de guvernul ghanez sa g�seasc� o solu�ie de a face biciclete-cargo pentru fermierii ghanezi. Ei au drumuri prin jungl� care conduc spre resurse naturale bogate, dar au dificult��i de transport din cauza pre�ului exorbitant al benzinei. Noi am trimis un container de biciclete �i am �nfiin�at o �coal� de “cargo bike modifications” �i design. A fost facut� printr-un schimb cultural numit Sisters City Program. De asta Ghana. Acum, asta poate fi facut� �n orce �ar� �n curs de dezvoltare din lume �i este f�cut�. �nc� �ncerc s� g�sesc biciclete �i voluntari pentru Ghana. Am un container nou care va fi trimis �n august �i �ncerc s� adun fonduri pentru scoal� �i voluntari care s� �nve�e copii cum s� fac� biciclete-cargo.

AI: Cum a fost primit acest program �n Ghana?
JP: O biciclet� poate s� ��i schimbe raza de ac�iune de la o distan�a de mers pe jos p�n� la 20 de mile, a�a c� po�i ob�ine un loc de munc� la o distan�� mai �ndep�rtat�. Apoi, c�nd ai o gr�mad� de produse pe care trebuie s� le transpor�i prin jungl�, asta este facut traditional pe capul oamenilor, po�i �mbun�t��i capacitatea aceasta �n mod radical. Programul a fost foarte bine primit �i eu am fost tratat foarte bine de guvern care de asemenea a alocat fonduri pentru scoala de biciclete-cargo. Se pare c� ei se g�ndesc la viitor �i nu vor s� fie dependen�i de carburan�i, a�a cum suntem noi.

AI: Te-ai g�ndit vreodat� la China?
JP: Faptul c� Asia �ndr�ge�te at�t de mult bicicleta �nseamn� c� ei au deja o baz� de ingenuitate �n acest sens. Noi am avut aceea�i problema �n America de Sud . Nimic din ceea ce poate fi imaginat �n for�a pedalei ca mecanism, nu a fost �ncercat de Maya Pedal din Guatemala, de la pompe de ap�, p�n� la moar� de gr�un�e �i alte ”bicimaquinas”. China �n momentul acesta este interesat� mai mult �n automobile. Ei au o solu�ie tehnologic� �i �ncearc� practic s� se modernizeze, spre deosebire de Olanda care �i-a prezervat morile de v�nt pentru c� ele sunt apreciate ca un tezaur cultural. Ar fi putut foarte bine s� le d�r�me �i s� le �nlocuiasc� cu centrale electrice moderne, dar nu au facut-o pentru c� tradi�ional exist� un cult special pentru ele. La fel, guvernul ghanez spune c� nu �ncearc� s� paveze jungla ci s� pun� bazele unui transport pe pedal�.

AI: Unde te vezi Johnny Payphone, peste zece ani?
JP: �n general nu cred c� simplicitatea este direc�ia spre care se �ndrept� cultura noastr�. Cred c� miscarea Steam Punk va duce spre un lifestyle practicat de o sec�iune din societate a�a cum s-a �nt�mplat cu hippies, afro-entuzia�ti, punk �i metal rock . Unii vor pl�ti mai mul�i bani pentru a avea ceea ce �i doresc �n via�� n timp ce mi�carea, care are cel pu�in zece, cinsprezece ani �n ciclul ei, va trece ca orce mod� l�s�nd �n urm� un grup restr�ns de aficionados. Cariera mea se �ndreapt� deocamdat� spre c�l�torii �n jurul lumii �i a festivalurilor de gen, unde v�d al�i inventatori �i proiectele lor.

AI: Johnny a fost o deosebit� pl�cere s� te am ca interlocutor pentru acest interviu. �n numele cititorilor no�tri de pe EgoPhobia, ��i mul�umesc.
JP: �mp�rt�esc aceea�i placere

Nota redac�iei: creatorii de bike modifications sau steam punk, interesa�i s� �i prezinte crea�iile de art� vizual� sau literar� ori sa dea un interviu revistei sunt ruga�i s� se adreseze redac�iei sau s� trimit� materiale pe adresa: redactia@egophobia.ro.

American Steampunk, Bicycles and Activism
-an interview with American Steam Punk activist Johnny Payphone-

by Adrian Ioni��

click pentru versiunea rom�n�

Two guys are sneaking in the back alley of my building. Lola Chicago and Johnny Payphone. They found out that I have the largest steam boiler in Chicago, and are planning to dig a hole in the wall. I watch and hear them through my miniature version of Paul St George's Telectroscope and wonder how in the world can they hire in La Villita a Bagger 288 without being noticed

Lola, who works as a carpenter by day, is a cross-dresser and punk cabaret singer by night. She has a 6000 square ft. studio around the corner of my place, filled with the most incredible stuff on earth.

Johnny is the quintesence of a steam punk activist, member of the Chicago Rat Patrol, cultural ambasador to Ghana through Sister Cities International, and Minister of Public Works for New Zealand’s regional of the Burning Man. Or something like that.

Before they’ll knock down the wall, I’ll better let them inside, sacrifice some of my illegal Cuban cigars, open a bottle of 16 year old smoky Lagavulin Scotch whisky, chew some fresh lovage, and talk about Steam Punk. Lola, who will be featured in our next number at Egophobia took the photos, while Johnny introduced himself naturally, without any suggestions:

JP: My name is Johnny Payphone, that’s my assumed name, or professional name. I think that is important to understand that I am a product of a very humble family, farmers on both sides, a family with a deep appreciation for the past and simplicity in life. As a child, I was not given as many toys or material possessions as other children, instead my parents invested in experiences for me, making sure I went to camp and the great outdoors and that sort of things, for example, they will give me a pair of stilts before they will give me some little toy car which will break over the time, because they felt that the physical and the symbol are more important in your life than possessions.

AI: A philosophy of life so challenging today when it seems that we live in a different world. How do you feel affected by change?
JP: In the 30 years that I have grown up, the world has become a horribly consumerist place, or at least, America has, so everything I do is a sort of backlash against that. I try to remind people that the important things in our life are our friends, good food, the time we spend with people we love, activities that we enjoy creating things with our hands, and not at all, what the American people tend to desire, which is a flashy car, the latest large screen television, various electronic devices, that I feel, only served to separate us from our life., on a cell phone or texting on a thing, or watching a television show about some guys who were making motorcycles, when they themselves could be on there, making and riding them. People were lured from the immediacy of their real life.

AI: How do you reconcile these conflicting feelings of living in a highly consumerist society and the escapist desire to find a refuge in the past?
JP: It appears on the surface that I am a technophobe, that I don’t like the technology at all, but that’s not it, in fact many steam punks are obsessed with technology, is just that we wish to return to a time when everything was user serviceable and immediately available to understanding by the common person. The reason steam punk has settled on this sort of 1890 timeframe, is because it was the last period in human history when a high school graduate could be expected to grasp the fundamental principles behind all of human knowledge, and so, if you got a radio or a tractor or a phonograph, you would be able to understand it inside and out, look at the pieces and know how they work, and also be able to repair it, if necessary.

AI: I always wondered, why this fixation with the Victorian era?
JP: You can kind of look at it in terms of the class structure of the Victorian age, where you had a peasant class and a craftsman class and you had an upper class, and the upper class consumed the product of the craftsmen. In the Steam Punk world were a lot of people obsessed with making very shinny, very pretty covers for their computers or flat screen televisions, but, within that scene, were also a lot of people interested in reviving technology, not letting it die, getting steam power machines running, and running new art, also using old photographic techniques that are in danger of dying out. There is also another element to it - just returning to a time, when people had manners - when people dressed up to go out, when they took some care to their appearance.

AI: You chose today an industrial blue working uniform ...
JP: I came prepared for the boiler room... No, it is not to say that you shouldn’t have the freedom to look or appear however you want, I myself have many tattoos and piercing that cause me to be some of a reject for modern society, but I will still say “how do you do” to someone who is passing me on the street, and they may look at me as a toughie and not even acknowledge me or say hello, and so, that’s the sort of thing. There used to be a human connection between people. Part of it was that, if you lived in a neighborhood or a town small enough, you had to know someone else, and this sort of worked as a social reinforcement and control on crimes that we have today with psychopaths, child molesters and people who rub old ladies; that happened in the old days as well, but now is much easier to get away with not knowing your neighbors and not knowing what are they up to, and than, not knowing what are you up to, and that sort of things. Unfortunately, I think, what happens, as a result of this disconnection from our lives that technology brings us, is, allows people to become more and more lonely, and the way you generate a killer or a psychopath, is to deny them human compassion. When someone shows signs of mental trouble, they should have compassion extended to them and we should help that person. What happens in our society now, they continue to receive benefits from the government and never leave their apartment, none in their own world, that’s when the mental illness gets worse.

AI: Please tell me something about your objects.
JP: I tell you, I am a guy who has a hard time creating art that is not functional. I looked into nomadic societies like “American Indians Move’ who never had a permanent home base. They could not afford to carry around useless objects, so they worked art in everything they did. That’s another thing that the craftsman of the Victorian era did, whereas, the objects that come to us today from overseas, are anonymous, and we have no connection what so ever to the person who made them. In the old days you may had only one chair but it was a very nice chair, and you knew who made that chair and that person’s grandfather also made chairs, and that sort of things. We had a connection to our lives. My grandfather was a farmer but he fixed all his machineries and had a welding shop. It is were I learned to weld. Lately I have worked with Butler Street Foundry from Bridgeport.

AI: How do you blend your personality in the fabric of the object?
JP: Everything I make is functional in some way, even if the result is a parody and is quite nonfunctional by what it is. In a sense, I can take functional objects and make them less functional but I have a very hard time expressing myself in a purely artistic way. I always want to make on a blacksmith’s forge, a very nice fork or spoon or something that I can give someone that may be able to use it. Regarding the sort of art that is just a shapeless hunk of metal in a gallery, I believe that a lot of the value of that kind of art is based on the perception of the art community. At the end of the day, something I make may not have much of an artistic value, but it still has its use, so, I make bicycles, contraptions, trinkets and things for everyday life.

AI: How important is the use of materials in Steampunk?
JP: Steam Punk is not limited by material or dimension at all. I know many people who make clothing, which is very creative. Small is easy to do in your basement hobby shop. Large takes money, but than, we have examples as the Neverwas Haul, which is a moving Victorian mansion on wheels, or the world’s largest scrap steel sculpture, the FOREVERTRON a tremendous contraption designed by Dr Evermore to propel a copper egg into the ether. Kinetic Steam Works is a group of artists that runs actual steam traction engines to power kinetic art such as a Merry- Go–Round, or an impressive Steam Punk Tree House, presented the last year at the Burning Man event in Black Rock City, California...

AI: Are you working with any galleries or museums?
JP: I put some of my machines in the galleries before, but we have this term of Outsider Art, or Folk Art, which is sort of an insult because it implies that if you are not educated in an artistic institution or, you are not shown in galleries, than you are not really an artist, you are just a sort of whimsical, foxy, exocentric, who happens to create art. The media these days, the New York Times for example, is very eager to focus on a product that steam punks may produce, such as a modification for your computer that allows it to look more old fashion, but the true expression is in your lifestyle, you make choices in your life to, I will say, enrich it, by taking the best parts of a period of time and also consumptively editing out the worst parts.

AI: I’d like to hear more from you, about Steam Punk and lifestyle.
JP: I would say that I was a steam punk before I even heard about that term.
For me Steam Punk is very much an expression of my lifestyle. There are examples of people from now, like Dr. ASI, (Dr. Adrian Silvan Ionescu from Romania) extending back into the eighteen hundreds, who just sort of said, this is the time I was meant to be born, and this is how I will behave. And then is Dr. Evermore in Wisconsin, who is a scrap artist, who always made things and sign them with false states from eighteen hundreds, and the objects, as you looked at them, looked like it could be that old, but then also, they looked too futuristic, producing steam punk expressions you don’t quiet know if are hundred years in the future or in the past, or a combination of both.

AI: Again, Johnny, about your lifestyle...
JP: I don’t watch television, I don’t own a television. I don’t think that it is a particularly rewarding or acceptable way to pass your time. You are given how many years on this Earth as a human being, and you’re going to spend it watching trash television? This leaves us with challenges to overcome. I am living the life of a nomad working out festivals around the world. I just came back from Australia, everything I have, has to be functional and my possessions are pared down to a very small number of trunks. I travel by train rather then flying. I feel that it is such more a dignifying way to travel. There are compromises we have to make, I use a bicycle to get around, and I don’t use an automobile. I never owned an automobile in my life, but I will consider a big old truck that I could live in, or something like a utility truck or motorcycle with good mileage or something that may ran on grease. A friend of mine in San Francisco, Chicken John, has converted his truck to run on coffee grounds using a gasifier. He noticed that the coffee shop throw out a barrel of used coffee grounds everyday and he looked up stories of world time farmers converting their trucks over the gasifiers, basically burning corn shocks, stocks of weed or whatever. This is very simple to do, all you need to do, you have a device that gets it to a high enough temperature and this produces a flammable gas that you can stick directly into your carburetor; it does not require to modify your engine. For me it is a statement about what’s going on in this world and how we got this global conspiracy to keep us addicted to oil, and we continuously kill people to maintain that. Its horrible, energy falls free from the sky.

AI: Global conspiracy?
JP: I trace this all back to the period of eighteen nineties and the beginnings of the global colonial superstructures, were companies like Standard Oil or Proctor &Gamble conspired to develop what we call Banana Republics in the Third World, subject those people in order to extract their natural resources and set up a consumer society in United States. As a result, we used to have trees and parks and we will go to square dances, have bonfires and now we have endless miles of shopping centers, we cut down our trees, we replaced them with parking lots and gun stores, liquor store, gun store, liquor store. Is our life that much better? Is the human suffering any less or more? I would say that I see everyday, poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition in our own cities and we are supposed to be the greatest country on Earth, the leader of the Free World and have the best quality of life in the world. Is not true at all. Shame on America for not taking care of itself, for spending so much money to get involved in other people’s conflicts, when we haven’t even taking care of our own. This is why, when that bridge fell down in Minneapolis last year, we were all so shocked, because we have bridges falling down, while we are spending unprecedented amounts of money in wars for oil on the other side of the world.
It is terrifying, you can’t even trust the street anymore.

AI: Is anybody in particular who influenced your steam punk vision?
JP: My grandparents had a tremendous influence on me, other craftsman and metalworkers who were creating the things that they had in their dream world, like Dr. Evermore or Jean Tingley, who makes kinetic sculptures or contraptions that destroy themselves at the end. I like that kind of irreverence in art, were you have something that is art, but renders itself useless and invaluable at the end of the show.

AI: What about Hollywood?
JP: Well, Hollywood picked up on some trends and popularized it among younger kids. Steam Punk movies in Hollywood who are expressing retro��-futurism are notoriously bad, like “Wild, Wild West’ (1999) for example. “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang “(1968) is pretty good. The Jules Verne Victorian era science fiction influenced a lot of us and Disney, certainly put that into pictures, but I think that people tend to reject popular media whenthey have this kind of lifestyle.

AI: You are an active member of the Rat Patrol Organization from Chicago.
JP: I do kids programs in the ghetto with poor black kids, and we go bicycles. These are children without positive male role models in their life. We teach them to fix bicycles, but what we really are teaching them is to resolve conflicts as a man, which is to say - face to face - with words, rather than fighting or shooting. We teach them that, the path of drugs and crack is not one that will make you successful in the world and we try to give them inspiration were they can get out of the ghetto and hopefully come back and bring something in return to it.

AI: Please tell our readers something about your trip to Ghana.
JP: It turns out that Accra, the capital of Ghana is a sister city to Chicago, so I met a man who was set by the Ghanaian government to figure out a way to make cargo bicycles for the Ghanaian farmers. They have jungle trails that lead to very wealthy natural resources but have a very hard time transporting those crops to market because of the petrol prices. We shipped over a container of bicycles and started a school for cargo bike modifications and design. It was done through the cultural exchange of Sisters City Program. That’s why Ghana. Now, this could be done in any number of developing world countries and it is done. I still try to send volunteers and bicycles to Ghana. I have a container that should be shipped in August and I try to raise funds to send another volunteer to run the school and teach people how to make cargo bikes.

AI: How was received the program in Ghana?
JP: A bicycle can change your range from walking distance to 20 miles so that you can get a job much further. Now, when you got a bunch of crops that you have to take through the jungle, that’s done on people heads and so, you can increase someone’s capacity tremendously. The program was very well received and I was treated very well by the government who also payed the Center to do cargo bikes. They are forward thinking, they don’t want to be as oil dependent as we are.

AI: Any thoughts about China?
JP: The fact that Asia loves the bicycle so much also means that they have already a bicycle based ingenuity going on. We had the same issue in South America. Nothing that I can come up with, as a pedal power device, like a pump or corn mill, had not been already invented in Guatemala as a part of a program called “bicimaquinas” of Maya Pedal. China right now is looking to get more cars. They have a technology-based solution to their problems and try to modernize basically, whereas the Dutch have preserved their windmills, because this is something that they cherish as part of their culture. They could easily knock them all down and replace them with modern electric power corn grills, but they haven’t chosen to do that because it is something special about them. The government of Ghana is saying, we are not going to pave over our jungle, what we are trying to do is to get jungle based bicycle pedal power transportation.

AI: Where do you see yourself ten years from know?
JP: In general I don’t think that simplicity is the direction our culture is going. I think that the Steam Punk movement will lead to a lifestyle of a section of people just like you have punks today, or hippies, afro-enthusiasts, red necks, metal heads or punk rock, it will lead also to a section of the society which pays a lot more money to have everything in their life. I think that Steam Punk probably only has a good ten, fifteen years in it and after that, the true aficionados will remain behind, while the trend is gone. My career is having me heading right now as a world traveler, as I work out all this festivals around the world, were I see other inventors and what are they up to.

AI: Johnny, it was such a pleasure having you for this exclusive interview. On behalf of our readers from Egophobia I wish to thank you.
JP: No sweat, it was my pleasure too.

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Adrian Ioni�� is a freelance writer from Chicago: adrianionita@sbcglobal.net

Note from our editors: creators of bike modifications and steampunk interested to expose their literary or visual creations, or to share some thoughts in an interview, are invited to submit their materials at redactia@egophobia.ro

Steampunk and Past-Future-Imagism

by Adrian Ioni��

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clic pour la version fran�aise

During an interview I had with Johnny Payphone about Dr. Evermore’s FOREVERTRON, the contraption designed to propel a gigantic egg in the air, I recalled an event which took place about a year ago when the “Studio Museum in Harlem” presented the Philosophy of Time Travel an installation made by several artists from Los Angeles. The contraption, envisions Constantin Br�ncu�i's “Endless Column” as if it had been launched like a missile from its home in T�rgu–Jiu, Romania, crossed the Atlantic, and crashed through the roof of the Studio Museum’s exhibition space in Harlem. No custom fees or taxes.

The installation could have been better fitted for a display in Central Park, New York, or on the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago, where in 1956, the Romanian artist intended to erect a 400-meter tall stainless-steel skyscraper as an axis mundi and "one of the wonders of the world". Beyond the intention of the artists, the “Philosophy of Time Travel”, given its subject, the grandiose vision and impact on our imagination, epitomizes a perfect example of PFI.

Past–Future-Imagism seems to be the right term to describe this installation which otherwise could fall into any other alternative artistic genre including Steampunk. Such an association may raise some eyebrows, a reason good enough to travel in the lofts of my mind around the history of object representation in art.

In 1926 the photographer Edward Steichen imported to United States, Bird in Space, a sculpture created by Br�ncu�i in Paris. The custom officials of the time taxed the shiny bronze sculpture as a piece of manufactured kitchen utensil, ordaining the controversy to the famous “ Br�ncu�i vs. United States” trial. In their defense, The Customs Court invoked a 1916 decision according to which sculptures are distinguished, as artwork only if are imitations of natural objects. Br�ncu�i won the trial and marked through his victory a shift in our perception about the boundaries of artistic representation in art. Even though, his series of mysterious birds and abstract sculptures goes back in time as far as 1908, it was his friend Marchel Duchamp, who in 1917 confronted us directly and provocatively with the more challenging idea of accepting a found object as art. He named them "tout fait”, or Readymades in English. One of his most cited works by critics is “Fountain”, a porcelain urinal submitted in 1917 to the Society of Independent Artists exhibit from New York.

I received recently a message from Radu Stern, the director of education at the Mus�e d'Elys�e in Lausanne, Switzerland, which amazed me and deepened my research about past-future-imagism and Steampunk. Radu pointed my direction to a material published by Art & Academe Vol. 10, No. 1 (Fall 1997) under the long title “Marcel Duchamp's Impossible Bed and Other "Not" Readymade Objects: A Possible Route of Influence From Art To Science”. ( ImpossibleBed )

The article written by Rhonda Roland Shearer, the wife of late Stephen Jay Gould is a detective investigation behind Duchamp’s provocative objects. According to her, many of the readymades done by Duchamp, including his “ Fountain” and Roue de bicyclette (Bicycle Wheel, 1913/1964) are not found objects. Duchamp signed his urinal with the name Mutt, the name of an existing company at his time, but Rhonda Roland Shearer could not find any model in the Mutt catalog to fit exactly the details of the urinal, raising the suspicion that he did not “find” his readymades, but actually constructed them dal capo al fine.

In other words, this is as if today a steampunk artist is constructing the simulacra of an object that looks so convincingly real as a found object, that will make us to believe that it is just a simple mumbo-jumbo of screws and gears, a mutant of cannibalized flea market finds, artistically assembled as a contraption, when in fact it is an object created by traditional means. This late discovery just shows us one more time, how deceiving can be our perception about the artistic object, and encourages us to find Steampunk roots beyond the efforts of K. W. Jeter or Michael Moorcock, not to mention William Gibson and Bruce Sterling’s The Difference Engine who opened our eyelids of awareness about this phenomenon.

In his description of Dr. Evermore, “who always made things and signed them with false states from eighteen hundreds, and the objects, as you looked at them, looked like it could be that old, but then also, they looked too futuristic, producing steam punk expressions you don’t quiet know if are hundred years in the future or in the past, or a combination of both. “, Johnny Payphone sees the magic around Steampunk, not only as a nostalgia or fascination for the past, but also as a voyage produced in the deepest corners of our consciousness by the inquietude to find, on the threshold between past and future, our lost identity.

Br�ncusi’s endless column crossed the ocean to crash in our showrooms, Dr. Evemore is prepared to launch his copper egg from Wisconsin to London, while the Neverwas Haul fell on la playa of the Burning Man. and Paul St George’s Telectroscope is guideing us through the halucinanting theatre of dreams steamed by the past-future-imagists who never accepted a border between imagination and reality.

Steampunk is finaly here. To understand it, we may have to restore, as Payphone defines, the good things from our past, and exclude all the causes which lured us today from the immedacy of our real life.

Steampunk �i Past-Future-Imagism

de Adrian Ioni��

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clic pour la version fran�aise

�ntr-un interviu cu Johnny Payphone, vorbind despre FOREVERTRON, instala�ia proiectat� de Dr. Evermore s� arunce �n eter un ou uria� de cupru, imagina�ia mi-a zburat involuntar spre un eveniment ce a avut loc �n urm� cu un an, c�nd “Studio Museum in Harlem” a prezentat Philosophy of Time Travel , o instala�ie f�cut� de un grup de arti�ti din Los Angeles. Lucrarea �nchipuie�te Coloana Infinitului a lui Br�ncu�i, de parc� ar fi fost lansat� ca un proiectil din T�rgu Jiu, ar fi trecut Atlanticul, �i s-ar fi pr�bu�it prin acoperi� �n sala de expozi�ie a muzeului Studio din Harlem. F�r� impozite sau taxe vamale.

Instala�ia ar fi fost mai potrivit� pentru o expunere �n Central Park din New York sau pe coasta lacului Michigan din Chicago, unde �n 1956 artistul rom�n a inten�ionat s� ridice un zg�rie-nor din o�el inoxidabil �nalt de 400 de metri, un fel de axis mundi sau ’’una dintre minunile lumii’’. Dincolo de inten�ia arti�tilor americani ’’Philosophy of Time Travel”, dat fiind subiectul, viziunea grandioas� �i impactul pe care �l are asupra imagina�iei noastre, ilustreaz� perfect un exemplu de PFI.

Past–Future-Imagism pare a fi termenul cel mai potrivit ca s� descrie aceast� instala�ie, care altfel ar putea s� fie categorisit� �n orce alt gen alternativ de expresie, incluz�nd Steampunk. O asemenea asocia�ie s-ar putea “s� ridice spr�ncene”, motiv suficient de serios ca s� m� determine s� c�l�toresc prin mansardele min�ii mele �n jurul conceptului de reprezentare a obiectului �n art�.

�n 1926 fotograful Edward Steichen a importat �n Statele Unite Bird in Space, o sculptur� creat� de Br�ncu�i la Paris. Oficialita�ile de le vama american� au taxat stralucitoarea pas�re de bronz ca �i cum ar fi fost ustensile de buc�tarie, declan��nd faimosul proces "Br�ncu�i vs. United States". �n ap�rarea sa, curtea vamala a invocat o decizie legal� din 1916 prin care sculpturile erau clasificate �i identificate ca obiect artistic, numai atunci c�nd sunt imita�ii ale obiectelor naturale. Br�ncu�i a c�tigat procesul �i prin aceast� victorie a produs o adev�rat� muta�ie �n percep�ia noastr� asupra grani�elor reprezent�rii artistice.

De�i seria sa de p�s�ri misterioase �i sculpturi abstracte se �ntoarce �n timp p�n� la 1908, cel care �n 1917 avea s� ne confrunte direct �i provocator cu idea de a accepta ca art� un obiect func�ional, a fost prietenul s�u Marcel Duchamp. El �i-a numit obiectele "tout fait”, sau Readymades �n traducere engleza. Una dintre lucr�rile sale cel mai des citate de critic� este “Fountain”, un urinoar de por�elan prezentat �n 1917 la o expozitie a Societa�ii Arti�tilor Independen�i din New York.

Am primit recent un mesaj de la Radu Stern, directorul educativ al muzeului d'Elys�e din Lausanne, mesaj care m-a uluit �i a ad�ncit cercetarea mea despre past-future-imagism �i Steampunk.

Radu Stern mi-a atras aten�ia asupra unui material cu un titlu foarte lung, “Marcel Duchamp's Impossible Bed and Other "Not" Readymade Objects: A Possible Route of Influence From Art To Science” (ImpossibleBed ), publicat recent de Art & Academe Vol. 10, No. 1 (Fall 1997).

Articolul tez�, scris de Rhonda Roland Shearer, so�ia cunoscutului biolog Stephen Jay Gouldeste o investiga�ie mai profunda privind realizarea obiectelor provocatoare ale lui Duchamp. Conform afirma�iilor sale, multe dintre obiectele readymade ale lui Duchamp, incluz�nd urinoarul �i Roue de bicyclette (Roata de biciclet�, 1913/1964), nu sunt "tout fait”. Duchamp �i-a semnat urinoarul cu numele Mutt, numele unei firme care a existat la acea vreme, �ns� Rhonda Roland Shearer nu a putut s� g�seasc� nici un model din catalogul firmei, care ar fi corespuns �n detalii urinoarului, arunc�nd suspiciunea c� artistul nu �i-ar fi g�sit obiectele de-a gata, ci le-a construit dal capo al fine. Altfel spus, asta s-ar asem�na ast�zi cu o situa�ie �n care un artist steampunk ar construi simulacrul unui obiect care arat� at�t de conving�tor �nc�t ne face s� credem c� este un mumbo-jumbo de �uruburi �i ro�i din�ate, un mutant f�cut din canibalizarea unor obiecte de talcioc �i asamblat �n mod artistic, c�nd de fapt el este un obiect creat �n tehnica, �i dup� principiile artei tradi�ionale. Aceast� descoperire t�rzie, demonstreaz� �n plus c�t de �n�el�toare poate fi perceptia noastr� asupra obiectului artistic, �i ne �ncurajeaza s� g�sim r�d�cinile fenomenului Steampunk dincolo de eforturile lui K. W. Jeter sau Michael Moorcock, f�r� a mai mentiona The Difference Engine a lui William Gibson �i Bruce Sterling , care ne deshid privirea �i cognizan�a �n fa�a acestui fenomen.

�n descrierea sa despre Dr. Evermore, Johnny Payphone afirm� c�: “el �ntotdeauna a f�cutobiecte din de�euri metalice semnate cu autodat�ri de la din 1800, care apoi, par prea futuriste pentru o expresie Steam Punk, �i nu se mai �tie precis dac� te transport� �n trecut sau �n viitor, sau este o combina�ie a unei expresii mixte”, demonstr�nd c� magia care �nconjoar� Steampunk, nu este numai nostalgia sau fascina�ia pentru trecut, ci �i o c�l�torie �n str�fundurile con�tiin�ei noastre dublat� de nelini�tea unei identit��ii pierdute pe pragul dintre trecut �i viitor.

Coloana infinitului a lui Br�ncu�i trece oceanul pentru a se pr�bu�i prevestitor �n s�lile de expozi�ie americane, Doctorul Evermore se preg�te�te s� lanseze oul s�u de cupru din Wisconsin spre Londra, �n timp ce, Neverwas Haul, cade �n de�ertul american pe la playa focurilor de la Burning Man, iar Paul St George ne introduce prin Telectroscope Paul St George ne introduce prin Telectroscope �n teatrul halucinant al viselor past-future-imagi�tilor care niciodat� nu au acceptat existen�a unei grani�e �ntre imagina�ie �i realitate.

Steampunk a ajuns �n sf�r�it �i la noi. Ca s� �n�elegem fenomenul, v-a trebui, a�a cum ne invit� Johnny Payphone, s� restaur�m ce este mai pre�ios din trecut �i s� reevalu�m cauzele care ne ademenesc pe un palier ce ne �ndep�rteaz� de imediate�ea propriei noastre vie�i.

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Tehnoredactare: Gabriela Merchie

Steampunk et Post-Futur-Imagisme

de Adrian Ioni��
[traduit en fran�ais par Gabriela Merchie]

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click for the English version

Pendant une interview avec Johnny Payphone, en parlant de FOREVERTRON, l’installation que le Dr. Evermore a mis au point pour projeter dans l’ �ther un gigantesque oeuf en cuivre, je me suis rappell� d’un �v�nement qui a eu lieu il y a un an au “Studio Museum in Harlem”qui presentait alors Philosophy of Time Travel une installation r�alis�e par un group d’artistes de Los Angeles. Ce travail imagine la Colonne de l’Infini de Constantin Br�ncu�i comme un projectil lan�� depuis T�rgu Jiu qui aurait travers� l’Atlantique et aurait transperc� le plafond de la salle d’ �xposition du Studio Museum in Harlem. Sans être soumis a un imp�t quelquonque et sans passer par la douane.

Central Park a New York ou la rive du lac Michigan a Chicago pourraient être des sites encores plus apropri�s pour exposer cette installation, d’autant plus qu’en 1956, l’artist roumain avait projet� d’ �lever un gratte-ciel en acier inoxidable haut de 400 m, une sorte de “axis mundi” ou une autre “merveille du monde”

Au delà de l’intention des artistes americains, au delà de cette vision grandieuse et de son impacte sur notre imaginaire “Philosophy of Time Travel” est un parfait exemple de PFI.

Post-Futur-Imagisme para�t être le terme le plus apropri� pour d�crire cette installation. Sans cet intitul�, elle pourrait être rang�e dans n’importe quel autre genre alternatif d’expression, en incluant Steampunk. Un telle association pourrait �tonner; c’est ce qui m’a pouss� a r�flechir au concept de la repr�sentation de l’objet d’art.

En 1926, le photographe Edward Steichen a apport� aux Etats Unis Bird in Space, une sculpture que Br�ncu�i avait cr�e à Paris. Les douaniers americains ont consid�r� l’ �tincelant oiseau en bronze comme un materiel de cuisine ce qui a provoqu� le fameux procès “Br�ncu�i vs United States”. A sa d�fense, la cour des douanes a invoqu� une d�cision l�gale de 1916 selon laquelle les sculptures �taient clasifi�es et identifi�es en tant qu’objets artistiques uniquement quand elles figuraient des sujets d�jà �xistents dans la nature. Br�ncu�i a gagn� le proc�s et ainsi il a modifi� la frontière concernant notre p�rception de la repr�sentation artistique.

Même si Br�ncu�i avait commenc� la s�rie des oiseaux mistèrieux en 1908. celui qui devait nous confronter dir�ctement et de fa�on provocatrice a l’id�e qu’un objet fonctionnel puisse être un objet d'art, fut Marcel Duchamp. Il a nomm� ces objets “tout fait” ou “Readymades” en anglais. L’oeuvre la plus cit�e par la critique est “Fountain”, un urinoir en porcelaine present�e en 1917 a l’�xposition de la Soci�t�e des Artistes Independents de New York.

J'ai re�u r�cemment un message de Radu Stern, le dir�cteur �ducatif du Mus�e de l’Elys�e de Lausanne, qui m’a enormement �tonn� et qui m’a amen� a aprofondir ma rech�rche au sujet du post-futur-imagisme et Steampunk.

Radu Stern m’a signal� un article a tr�s long titre, “Marcel Duchamp’s Impossible Bed and Other Not Readymade Objects: A Possible Route of Influence From Art To Science”, (ImpossibleBed) publi� r�cement par Art & Academy, Vol. 10, No.1 (Fall 1997).

Cet article est �crit par Rhoda Roland Shearer, la femme du c�l�bre biologiste Stephen Jay Gould. Dans son article, l’auteure creuse un peut plus la manière dont Duchamp r�alise ses objets provocateurs. Selon elle, beaucoup des oeuvres de Duchamp entre autre l’Urinoiret Roue de bicyclette (1913-1914) ne sont pas “tout fait”. Duchamp a appele l’Urinoir “Mutt”, du nom d’une marque de l’�poque. Rhoda Roland Shearer n’a jamais trouv� cet objet dans le catalogue de la dite marque ni aucun objet dont la d�scription aurait pu correspondre a quelque chose de similaire. Ainsi elle fait na�tre le doute quant à l’�xistence de l’objet telquel; Duchamp aurait donc cree cet objet d’un bout a l’autre. Autrement dit, cela pouvait resembler aujourd’hui a la situation suivante: un artiste steampunk cr�e le simulacre d’un objet tellement convainquant qu’il pourrait nous faire croire a un “mambo-jumbo” des vis des �crous et roues à dents, bref, un mutant fait au moyen de la canibalisation des objets de brocante et assembl�s artistiquement, mais en fait il cr�e un objet issu de la technique et selon les principes de l’art traditionnel.

Cette d�couverte tardive d�montre que notre p�rception de l’objet artistique peut être trompeuse et nous pousse a chercher les racines du ph�nomène steampunk au delà des efforts de K. W. Jeter ou Michael Moorcock sans parler de The Difference Engine de William Gibson et Bruce Sterling qui nous ouvre le regard et la “cognisation” face a ce ph�nomène.

En decouvrant l’oeuvre du Dr. Evermore, Johnny Payphone dit qu’il a toujours cr�e des objets a partir des d�chets m�taliques en les antidatant comme �tant cr�es au XIX �me siècle; une fois realis�s, ces objets paraissaient trop futuristes pour être des objets Steampunk et on ne peut plus savoir s'ils transportent dans le future ou le pass�, ou bien ils representent une combinaison des deux, une �xpression mixte. Il d�montre ainsi que la magie du Steampunk n’est pas uniquement la nostalgie ou la fascination pour le pass� mais aussi un voyage au plus profond de notre conscience qui ne manque pas de g�n�rer une grande inquietude qui ait trait à la perte de notre identit� oscilant sur le seuil entre pass� et avenir.

La Colonne de l'Infini de Br�ncu�i passe l'Atlantique pour se fracasser de fa�on pr�monitoire dans les salles d’�xposition americaines; le docteur Evermore pr�pare le lancement de son oeuf en cuivre dans le Wisconsin en direction de Londres; en même temps, Neverwas Haul dans le desert americain aux alentours de la playa des feux Burning Man et Paul St. George nous fait p�n�trer a travers son Telectroscope dans le th�atre hallucin� des rêves des post-futur-imagistes qui n’ont jamais admis l’�xistence d’une frontière entre imaginaire et r�alite.

Steampunk est, enfin, arriv� chez nous. Pour comprendre le ph�nomène il va falloir – Johnny Payphone nous y invite – r�consid�rer ce qu’il y a de plus pr�cieux dans notre pass� et r�evaluer ce qui nous attire dans cette instance mouvante et nous �loigner de l’imm�diatet� de notre propre vie.

O imersie �n aburi cu Jake von Slatt [I]

de Cod Peace & Cheesesteak the Impaler
[traducere: Adrian Ioni��]

click for the original English version @ Bostodelphia

On February 26th, 2008, BOSTODELPHIA had an interview with Mr. Jake von Slatt, the most articulated voice behind the Steampunk phenomenon in the United States. We wish to thank Mr. Jake von Slatt and the editors of Bostodelphia for granting permission to translate and publish this interview in Egophobia. The translation was done by our US correspondent, Adrian Ioni��.

JVS: Jake von Slatt
CP: Cod Peace
CTI: Cheesesteak the Impaler

CTI: �mpreun� cu Cod Peace ne-am �nodat prosopul �i le-am raportat celor de la Dillons Russian Steam Bath din Chelsea c� vom lua un interviu lui Jake von Slatt , capul de afi� (sau poate gentelmanul daguerreotype) al Steampunk-ului Bostonian.
�n timp ce soseam aici cu Bostodelphiamobile, dup� c�teva h�rjoneli cu Cod, am ajuns s� realizez faptul c� baia nu este loca�ia ideal� pentru tema pe care mi-am imaginat-o. Reiese de fapt c� steampunk nu graviteaz� �n jurul unor nori de aburi. Ei bine, Herr von Slatt va trebui s� ia baia cu Bostodelphia cel pu�in de data aceasta. Apoi, �n timp ce sunt pu�in �ngrijorat de ce se va �ntampla cu prosopul meu sub aburii ace�tia fierbin�i, Cod a �nceput s� emane un miros apetisant de brais�.

CTI: Her von Slatt, v� multumesc pentru amabilitatea de a acorda acest interviu cu Bostodelphia.
JVS: Pl�cerea este de partea mea D-le Impaler, si te rog s� �mi spui Jake. Ce loc frumos! �mi aminteste de The Gellert, o baie comunal� din Budapesta secolului al 19-lea.

CTI: Privind spre paleta larg� a proiectelor tale, se pare c� DIY te-a preocupat cu mult timp �nainte ca “steam punk” s� ajung� un termen colocvial. M� �ntreb cum ai ajuns sub inciden�a cuv�ntului steampunk, �i cum �i-ai integrat munca �nainte de-a veni �n contact cu termenul. Ai fost dintotdeauna steampunk? Cum �i-ai numit lucr�rile �nainte, �i �n ce m�sur� a influen�at aceast� inciden��, estetica sau tehnica de produc�ie a muncii tale?

JVS: Am fost un steampunk de c�nd m� �tiu. At�t c� “niciodat� n-am �tiut cum se nume�te”, un refren obi�nuit �n grupurile virtuale, ce se aplic� desigur �i �n cazul meu.
La 11, 12 ani eram preocupat de electronic� �i puteam s� stau ore �ntregi �n sectiunea 621 de la biblioteca public�. Invariabil, c�r�ile care m� atr�geau erau lucr�rile de la �nceputul secolului 20 care con�ineau “proiecte pentru baie�i”, care ast�zi, dac� ar fi fost publicate ar fi trimis autorii lor direct la gitmo (Guantanamo Bay nr.). �n timp ce al�i copii “n�rozi”se jucau cu seturi de tranzistori PNP sau NPT de la Radio Shack, experimentele mele erau f�cute cu capacitoare Leyden, baterii improvizate de plumb �i acid, tuburi de vacuum �i bobine de �nalt voltaj. Am construit un transmi��tor cu care puteam s� trimit la distan�e apreciabile semnale Morse �i care desigur, a obliterat recep�ia telvizoarelor �n tot cartierul atunci c�nd era activat.
Deci �ntotdeauna am avut o pasiune pentru tehnologie veche �i o parte a acestui interes era accesibilitatea care exista pentru experimentator. Pentru c� veni vorba, c�nd lucrez �n atelier �i am nevoie de pild� de un racord, m� uit prin cutia mea de minuni �i modific tot ce g�sesc care ar sem�na cu ceea ce doresc. Trebuie s� admit c�, pentru websit-ul meu, am adoptat termenul Steampunk �n acela�i spirit.

CTI: Dup� mine, cei care au investit �n cuv�ntul “steampunk’ – informa�ia mea deriv� din “The Difference Engine”, colaborarea lui Sterling �i Gibson, care au introdus estetica Steampunk unei audien�e largi – sunt for�a�i s� accepte o compara�ie cu “cyberpunk culture”, dac� o asemenea cultur� ar putea fi vreodat� izolat� �i identificat� din estetica tehnologic� actual�. Dac� Cyberpunk poate fi schi�at �n mare, ca �i cum ar fi calapodul unui subgen de science fiction (muzic� si alte arte), ideologia unei “informa�ii care se pretinde liber�”- al�turi de contrafortul s�u Orwelian- o cultur� hacker implicat� �n manipulari tehnologice de “joc pentru pl�cere �i profit”, dincolo de legalitate, atunci putem vedea o mi�care care a prezis, sau �ncearc� s� for�eze, schimb�ri sociale masive prin tehnologii informatice. Exist� o viziune global� similar� printre cei ce practic� steampunk-ul �n art� �i me�te�ug (megalomania vizionarului tr�znit?) sau “aburi�tii” sunt angaja�i �n ceva mai intim �i personal? Poate nostalgic?
JVS: Sigur c� unii sunt interesa�i primar �n nostalgic. Oricum, unii dintre fanii obstina�i g�ndesc mai mult �n termeni de lifestyle. Cred c� �n multe privin�e Steampunk-ul este o reac�ie la Cyberpunk, o dorin�� de a injecta un element de umanitate �i pasiune �n ceva rece �i virtual, ceea ce �mi d� convingerea c� va avea o via�a mai lung�.
A face obiecte este de asemenea o tem� central� printre Steam Punks (cum am s� �ncep s� �i numesc) ca o atitudine pro-individual� �i �n general anti-corporatist�. Noi suntem anti-corporati�ti, nu pentru c� marile companii ar fi reprobabile sau ceva de genul acesta, ci pentru c� sunt plictisitoare �i promoveaz� �abloane, pe care le vedem a fi at�t de transparente �n lumea de azi.

CTI: Ca s� continuam ideea, sau s� o punem diferit, Jake: am senza�ia c� Steam Punks sunt similari, cel pu�in �n sensul primelor exerci�ii �n perspectiv� anti-corporatist�, pro-individual�, cu ceea ce am putea numi “techno libertarian” (�i prin libertanian �n�eleg DIY , do-it-yourself, dec�t “republicani care vor s� fumeze marijuana”). Oricum, �n afara faptului c� mul�i dintre cyberpunk-i�tii de ieri “s-au v�ndut” capitalismului digital contemporan, cyberpunk-ul avid de tehnologie a fost v�zut de mi�care ca o imperioas� necesitate. O formulare a unui viitor “cyber” era inevitabil�, ei conduceau lumea, iar restul lumii va trebui eventual, s� �i ajung� din urm�. C��iva au v�zut asta ca pe un fel de misiune de evanghelizare a viitorului �i de ajutor dat luditi�tilor , �n a arunca o punte peste pr�pastia produs� de diviziunea digitala etc. Al�ii sau v�zut pe sine ca prin�i ai viitorului �n fa�a celor care nu erau interesa�i de mi�care - viitorii lor iobagi, etc. Cu alte cuvinte, chiar dac� ai �n�eles sau nu, �n ultim� instan��, mi�carea Cyberpunk te va afecta �i, chestionabil desigur, ne-a afectat. M� �ntreb dac� steampunk-istul obi�nuit se vede ca un exemplu �n fa�a ‘maselor”, sau se percepe pe sine �n a avea un impact social mai larg dec�t obiectul s�u me�te�ug�resc �i, v�dit, audien�a sa de ni��?
JVS: Desigur, exist� o varietate mare �ntre cei care s-ar identifica ca fiind steampunks, exist� chiar �i un anumit contingent anarhist, iar mul�i care se identific� cu mi�carea verde enviromental-ist� v�d revizitarea tehnologiei vechi ca o cale de autosuficien��; energia cu aburi este, p�n� una alta, perfect� pentru convertirea biomasei �n energie.

CTI: Cum vine asta?
JVS: Ca s� �nsumez, global warming este cauzat de arderea combustibilului fosil, care conduce la eliberarea carbonului (�n form� de CO₂) �n admosfer�. Carbonul eliberat, atunci c�nd ace�ti combustibili sunt ar�i, este carbonul care a fost luat din admosfer� anul trecut, nu zece milioane de ani �n urm�. �n esen��, pentru carbon, procesul este neutru. Avantajul pe care �l are aburul, se datoreaz� faptului c� boilerele de abur pot fi u�or proiectate pentru a arde mai multe feluri de combustibil, �n timp ce motoarele cu combustie intern� au nevoie de o form� lichid� cu caracteristici particulare. Un steamer Stanley, va func�iona bine pe ulei vegetal, kerosen, benzin�, diesel sau terbentin� �i ar fi u�or s� �i adaugi o camer� de ardere pentru a permite arderea lemnului, a rezidurilor vegetale, etc. [www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass]. Puterea energetic� ob�inut� din biomas� este o tehnologie verificat�. Stempunk-i�tii sunt interesa�i �n miniaturizarea acestor sisteme, pentru a fi folosite �n case individuale �n caz c� trecem printr-un apocalips energetic sau ceva de genul acesta.
M� descriu ca “libertanian cu inima s�nger�nd�”, �i cred c� aceast� descriere este pe linie cu Steampunk. Noi promov�m mixiunea stiin�ei cu dragostea, a tehnologiei cu umanismul.

CP: Exist� o atrac�ie interna�ional� pentru Steampunk, sau este limitat� la spa�iul anglofon?
JVS: Am auzit c� este imens �n Fran�a �i Germania, de asemenea �n MareaBritanie unde varietatea de fani este fascinant�. A vedea 50 de entuzia�ti �n transportul feroviar pe aburi, discut�nd despre ceasuri de buzunar sau goggles, cu 20- �i ceva de Goths, �ntr-un limbaj pseudo-victorian, este “hai” curat. Yah just gotta love Teh Intarweb.
Acum, cel mai tare forum de pe web este �n Marea Britanie, �i este condus de o t�n�r� “TinkerGirl", for�a din spatele sitului Brass Goggle Blog

CP: Este popular deja �n Emiratele Arabe? �n cazul acesta vei face foarte mul�i bani…
JVS: Dup� c�te �tiu eu, nu, dar articole recente �n Ocean Drive �i Vegas poate c� vor schimba acest lucru. Dar, pentru c� veni vorba, m-a amuzat s� v�d �n aceste reviste hip de obiecte de lux hiper-capitaliste, devenite punk, un link c�tre Steampunk Magazine o publica�ie cu anumite tendin�e anarhiste.

CTI: De ce �i-ai dori aburi �n de�ert?
CP: Pentru c� �n jur plutesc sume de dolari f�r� precedent (�i er, euro, �n ziua de azi) �i dac� un procent infim este “aburit”, JvS va conduce un Yaris poleit cu aur ori de c�te ori va merge la servici.

CP: St� oare esen�a de a fi “steampunk (-ist)” �n crea�ia de obiecte me�te�ug�re�ti, sau �n consumul lor? C�t de semnificativ este modelul de do-it-yourself pentru steampunk, opus mi�c�rii Goth, unde exist� deja, ca s� te po�i decora, o pia�� de accesorii de mod�, muzic�, etc., �i care �n ultim� instan��, face DIY inutil? �n aceea�i ordine de idei, sustrage oare cre�terea pie�ei de lux a obiectelor steampunk (keyboardul lui JvS poate fi cump�rat de la un alt steampunker Datamancer) aerul de simplitate caracteristic majoritatii websituri-lor steampunk?
JVS: Deloc. A fi un artizan care face obiecte unice si le vinde �n magazine obi�nuite este �n acord cu ceea ce constituie pentru mine Steampunk. Cred ferm c� to�i arti�tii ar trebui s� fie capabili s� c�tige o p�ine prin arta lor, �i internetul ne-a dat o platform� pe care s� facem acest lucru.
Oricum, dac� o corpora�ie �ncepe s� produc� keyboards �n mas�, este probabil c� steampunk-i�tii o s� o evite chiar dac� fanii le cump�r� cu sutele. Asta este OK, noi ne iubim fanii si �n�elegem c� nu orcine poate s� �i permit� un keyboard f�cut de m�n�.
Eu personal nu v�nd nimic, consider ca produsul meu este entertainment-ul pe care �l ofer� websit-ul meu vizitatorilor. De fapt voi publica cur�nd pe situl meu o not� de licensing care pune proectele mele sub licen�a Creative Commons, atribu�ie non-comercial�, o licen�� de schimb cu clauz� comercial� pentru artizani. Cu alte cuvinte, oricine este binevenit s� fac� copii ale proectelor mele �i s� le v�nd�, at�t timp c�t m-� crediteaz� pentru design �i profiturile suport� un individ sau o familie. Dar ca s� r�spund la �ntrebarea ta, esen�a Steampunk-ului este infuzia tehnologiei cu iubirea.

[urmarea �n num�rul viitor]

Steampunk Gallery

by Adrian Ioni��

If you googlize the word “steampunk”, you may be surprised to find over three million entries. Many examples of applied Steampunk art can be found on Boing Boing, Ebay or Etsy, and the trend seems to grow day by day. The large number of artists and the diversity of their expression made my selection a difficult task so that I tried to go along with the suggestions offered in the interview by Johnny Payphone. I hope that your response and input will bring forward more artists and writers to be featured on Egophobia, to create awareness and popularity around the Steampunk philosophy and esthetic, or interest in mutant-bike modifications in Romania.

Romania, after all, is the country where was born the flamboyant Count Dracula and his hoard of Transylvanian vampires, burning our imagination in the most enduring retro-futuristic model to be molten in a cultural crucible. Got the idea?

To emphasize the magnitude of the Steampunk phenomenon, I added in the Gallery several pictures not mentioned directly in our interview. My effort is not limited only to promote Steampunk in visual arts but also to present musicians and fashion designers from al over the word. In a recent conversation with Shannon O’Hare the creator of the halucinative Neverwas Haul he expressed enthusiasm for a possible Burning Man edition in the country of Vlad Tepes.

The last photo in the gallery introduces a print of the Romanian photographer Nicu Ilfoveanu, who works for several years reviving in Steampunk spirit outdated film, old photographic equipment and techniques. The only Romanian art critic known so far of being genuinely interested in the Steampunk esthetic is Stefan Tiron, who otherwise wrote extensively about Ilfoveanu.

For a panoramic vision about Steampunk I’ll invite you to browse the links from my interview with Johnny Payphone, or the article about Steampunk and Past-Future-Imagism. It offers just a glimpse into the stratospheric dimension of this movement. If you are interested to share some of your thoughts about Steampunk, or just simply extend exposure in Romania to your visual creations, literature, design, fashion, or music, please feel free to contact me at adrianionita@sbcglobal.net or my editors at EgoPHobia: redactia@egophobia.ro.

[compas ring ] © clockworkcrow

[trio watch] © Vianney Halter

[steampunk watch] © Haruo Suekichi

[retroblaster propgun] © Kropserkel

[steampunk laptop] © Datamancer

[stratocaster guitar] © Steampunk Workshop

[involution wheel] © Capricorn Cyclo Works

[bobster trike] © Zeel Design

Dac� faci un search pe Google cu cuv�ntul “steampunk” vei avea surpriza s� g�se�ti peste trei milioane de inputuri. Foarte multe exemple de art� aplicat� Steampunk pot fi g�site pe Boing Boing, Ebay sau Etsy, �i trendul se pare c� cre�te pe zi ce trece. Dat fiind num�rul enorm de arti�ti �i diversitatea expresiilor artistice, selec�ia mea a fost foarte dificil�, urm�rind doar c�teva exemple men�ionate �n interviul cu Johnny Payphone. Am speran�a c� reac�ia �i r�spunsul la articol v-a creia cognizan�� i popularitate �n jurul filosofiei si esteticii SteamPunk precum si interes asupra modific�rilor de genul mutant–bike.

Rom�nia, �nainte de toate, este �ara �n care s-a n�scut flamboiantul Conte Dracula �i vampirii s�i transilv�neni, aprinz�ndu-ne imagina�ia �n fa�a celui mai rezistent model retro-futuristic topit vreodat� �ntr-un creuzet cultural. Se �n�elege idea?

Pentru a sublinia magnitudinea fenomenului Steampunk, am ad�ugat �n galerie c�teva imagini care nu au fost men�ionate �n interviu. Demersul meu vizeaza nu numai pe cei din artele artele vizuale si aplicate, dar �i pe muzicieni sau fashion designers din �ntreaga lume.

�ntr-o convorbire recent� pe care am avut-o cu Shannon O’Hare creatorul halucinantului Neverwas Haul acesta �i-a exprimat entuziasmul pentru o posibil� edi�ie regional� a festivalului Burning Man �n �ara lui Vlad �epe�, �i voi �ncerca at�t de aici din Statele Unite, c�t si �n Rom�nia, s� sugerez o formul� de a face acest lucru �ntr-un loc inedit, ferit de interese comerciale sau pres�, de�i �tiu c� acest lucru este aproape imposibil �n lumea de azi.

Am inclus aici �i o lucrare a fotografului rom�n Nicu Ilfoveanu, care lucreaz� de c��iva ani cu film expirat, folosind tehnici �i aparate disp�rute de mult, ceea ce �l apropie de spiritul curentului Steampunk. Singurul critic rom�n pe care �l �tiu p�na la ora actual� a fi interesat �n mod genuin de Steampunk ca estetic�, este �tefan Tiron care a scris de altfel destul de extins despre Ilfoveanu.

Pentru o vedere mai larg� a fenomenului, v� invit citi�i interviul cu Jonny Payphone, articolul despre Steampunk �i Past-Future-Imagism, sau s� consulta�i linkurile pe care le-am pus la dispozi�ie. Ele vor oferi doar o mica parte din dimensiunea ame�itoare a acestui curent. �n timp ce facem un efort continuu s� acoperim materialul cu copyright, r�m�nem deschi�i oric�ror corec�ii �i sugestii. Va rog s�-mi trimite�i mie la adrianionita@sbcglobal.net sau pe adresa redac�iei redactia@egophobia.ro comentarii sau propuneri editoriale pentru expunere �i interviu, fotografii cu lucr�ri de art� vizual�, literatur� , design, fashion, si muzic�.

Steampunk Links

gathered by Adrian Ioni��

Steam Punk Tree House

Stepan Sarpaneva

The Neverwas Haul

Thomas Truax

Thunder Eagle Guitars

Vianeey Halter

Wired Magazine

#
All the images are used with the kind permission from the copyright owners and we thank them again for this.

Disclaimer
EgoPHobia makes an effort to provide accurate and complete information. However, we cannot guarantee that there will be no errors. We make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the contents of thes sites linked here and expressly disclaim liability for errors and omissions in the contents of these sites.

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