io9 covered our panel on steampunk design.
One of the most interesting panels at this year’s Readercon was an exploration of the steampunk design movement, as it emerged into the mainstream with May’s New York Times Style article. Writer/puppeteer Mary Robinette Kowal, YA fantasy novelist Holly Black, Tor editor Liz Gorinsky, and speculative fiction writer Sarah Micklem gathered to show off their steampunk creations, discuss steampunk’s literary origins, share their favorite steampunk websites … and, of course, to design a Gibson chair for the fannish masses.
I told someone that I had been tempted to take an easel and pad and draw the chair as we designed it, using a Morris Chair ((The title of the panel relates to Gibson Girls, William Gibson and the Morris Chair)) as the base. Ha! Like I’d have been able to do that and participate in the discussion at the same time.
But… I did do it this morning over breakfast, after a commenter in the thread at io9 suggested that such a thing might be made if only there were a design.
Can I order one to replace my chair at work? That looks much more comfortable. Is that a cooling fan underneath? I like that idea! 🙂
Yes, indeedy. That is a cooling fan. You can’t see it, but there are brass pipes in the frame of the chair for radiant heating in the winter.
Perfect! Here at work I’d use the fan during the winter and the radiant heat during the summer. The temperature is not well maintained. Please e-mail me when one is available. 🙂
I’m glad you mentioned Gibson girls. My grandmother had a big old clothbound collection of Gibson’s art and I begged it off her before she passed away, mostly just for the visuals. I’ve only recently come to understand and appreciate the sardonic edge to much of the caption content.
I love the Gibson girl look. That’s a fine example, actually, of art driving life. The Gibson girl is totally a product of the artist and didn’t exist prior to him setting pen on page.
I’m quite serious about my offer to build, if there truly is any interest! As a somewhat high-strung director once told me: “If we can build an atomic bomb, we can build this!” Where there’s a will, there’s a way and all that…
Even if this never actually was made into a physical piece, it would pretty cool to work out how. As an added bonus, I have a smashing top hat that I can wear while working on this!