Steampunk finds the future in the past

You could say that Steampunk makes everything old new again, and Bruce Rosenbaum says the idea behind it can do the same thing for your life.

www.rutlandherald.com    

Provided photo Bruce Rosenbaum has become the “Steampunk guru,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Published September 22, 2016 in the Rutland Herald Steampunk finds the future in the past By Janelle Faignant You could say that Steampunk makes everything old new again, and Bruce Rosenbaum says the idea behind it can do the same thing for your life. The Wall Street Journal named Rosenbaum the “Steampunk guru,” and he says its essence is re-imagination and resilience. “From an artist and design perspective, Steampunk equals history plus art plus technology,” he said. “It’s a way to compress the past, the present, and the future into one space and time.” Anything post-industrial that’s kind of lost its mojo can be revived and reimagined in the Steampunk stratosphere, whether it’s an object, a town, or even a person. “If you feel that time has passed you by, that you’ve become obsolete, either in your career, relationships, whatever it is that’s hitting you in life adversely,” Rosenbaum said, “there are ways to think about reimagining it.” Steampunk plucks the good parts from the past, brings them into the present, and reimagines them in a better future. “It’s a very positive outlook,” Rosenbaum says. “It’s not just the here and now. It’s looking at the bigger picture of what came before and what can come after.” Rosenbaum is a featured speaker at this weekend’s Springfield Steampunk Festival, which begins at 6:30p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, at the Hartness House Inn. Based on the science-fiction fantasy of authors like H.G. Welles, Steampunk is packed with cosplay, prop-making, videos and storytelling. The weekendlong festival is full of activities from burlesque to live music, to parlor games, a fashion show, vendors from all over the country, and lots more. Rosenbaum’s talk called “Reimagining Resilience” centers on the creative problem-solving philosophy of Steampunk. “There’s a much deeper message here,” Rosenbaum said. “It’s not just the beauty of Steampunk, the aesthetic and the fantastical fun nature of it. It’s ways to creatively fuse technology into objects to bring them back to life, and give them new purpose.” Rosenbaum even Steampunked his own house without realizing it. When he and his wife moved into their 1901 Victorian Craftsman-style house in Sharon, Mass. 16 years ago, they began collecting antiques and architectural salvage from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Instead of putting them in a corner or on display somewhere in the house like a museum, they figured out how to integrate them in terms of technology with the kitchen, home theater and office. Friends who came to visit told them they were “steampunking.” Rosenbaum hadn’t heard of it. He looked it up and, “all of a sudden this Edison light bulb went off in my head,” he said. “Steampunk is all my passions coming together.” The house started to get public attention after it was written about and dubbed “the first Steampunk house.” Museums started calling, interested in Rosenbaum’s exhibits. “A whole new life started for me,” he said. “I really like this idea of being able to take what no longer works and find a way to make it work. It puts you in a mental state where you can do that for your own life.” http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20160922/FEATURES01/160929874