Two pictures from the second museum day at the Railway museum. You really missed out on something if you were not there!

Foto: Kristin Thorrud.

Foto: Kristin Thorrud.

This weekend the Railway Museum (Sveriges järnvägsmuseum) holds museum days. This will be the location of the Steampunkfestival, and of course some of us are there even now.

Foto: Micke Dunker.

The theme is “odd vehicles”. Here: some of us by the Wind Wagon!

Foto: Kristin Thorrud.

At the museum family day spring 2013.

Summer is over, autumn is here. We look forward to meeting many of you at various events coming up in the near future.

• At the museum days in Gävle, September 14-15.
• At the Steampunk-konvent, the convention in Alingsås October 11-13.
• At Fantastika, the SF convention in Stockholm October 18-20.

The winning contribution by Mandy Martin. We will not build it exactly like this, but use this picture as artistical input to our drawings and adapt it to what we think we can actually build.

Mandy Martin, congratulations! You won the design contest Can you tell us briefly who you are?

I’m a freelance illustrator working in Canada. I specialize in digital and mixed media work, and I enjoy creating short animations. I often explore animals in motion and sequential narratives, while applying whimsical and surreal subject matter to my work. I also have an interest in illustrating fantastical versions of ancient technologies and weapons. I am currently working on a degree in Illustration at the Ontario College of Art and Design, in Toronto, Ontario.

What is your relationship to Steampunk?

As a fan of science fiction and fantasy, I love steampunk because it is a style that bridges these genres. What makes steampunk even more intriguing to me is that much of it is based on elaborate elements taken from machinery and art history. It combines the industrial with the elegant. Details on machines such as the locomotive become exaggerated to be larger and heavier, but also more intricate. As an artist, I find that this creates an interesting contrast.

Would you like to tell us something about your thoughts behind the design?

When I think of steampunk, the first things that come to mind are large brass gears, monocles and top hats. I considered putting top hats on the train, and although it was funny, I decided to take a more ‘practical’ approach by diving back into art history. There were many things in the late 1800s and early 1900s that were intricately crafted in iron, bronze and brass. I thought that if I could consider designs that were actually used in our past, then the train may become more tasteful and simultaneously, less expected. I researched early designs that were used for art nouveau prints and furniture to develop my concept. While this style is not definitively steampunk, it is reminiscent of an era were many objects for daily use were designed elegantly, and wrought in bronze and iron. The shapes may be organic, but they were still combined with metal, and used in an era that still relied on the steam-powered locomotive. The design is meant to invoke the way in which people of the past portrayed their idea of the future.

Thank you Mandy!

To everyone who likes this idea: don’t forget to support the project at FundedByMe. We rely on you to afford the means to build this! The past weekend we organised the group. We have a time plan, a project manager, a work team leader, and many thoughts on how make this all happen.

As we mentioned before, we would like to redesign a locomotive. A real one! This will be utterly spectacular, but we can’t do it without you: We need support from outside, not only in form of “likes” on facebook. (Even though we appreciate that, too, of course.) In order to be able to afford both materials and further expenses, we rely on donations (i.e. crowdfuning), and so we have brought into being a project: En fantastisk steampunkmaskin på FundedByMe. We offer some fine things in exchange for your donation, of course!

This year’s Game Convention LinCon in Linköping,Sweden, which takes place between May 9th and 12th, is dedicated to steampunk. The focus will show not only in the general decoration, but also in the people who  have been encouraged to work the topic into games and other activities arranged for the weekend.

One of us organizers will, of course, also be there to soak up the atmosphere, and even give a lecture on Friday at 2:30 p.m.

Our friends who organize the Steampunk convention in Alingsås in October will even have a table where one can find information about their event – a place for mutual inspiration, conversation, and conspiration. See you there!