The 2010 Steampunk Bizarre is HERE!

...And it was a HUGE Success!

800 People showed up for opening weekend. Artists flew in for the event as well as our main performer Veronique Chevalier. Merchandise flew from the booth, some artwork was sold and we raised over $600 for the St. Mary Home in West Hartford. The video above by Artist and contributer, Steve Ziolkowski, is just a sneak peek of some of the action, but Neurotic Films was there to capture it all for the Documentary, "I AM STEAMPUNK". Special thanks to Tschudin Chocolates of Middletown for supplying our guests with some amazing samples of chocolate wizardry. And Datura of Middletown made a beautiful Steampunk arrangement that wowed the audience! We had a special treat in the form of a toast by The Emperor of the Red Fork Empire with the assistance of our merch peddler, the lovely Miss Kitty.

The night was not complete without a demonstration of the Sonic Disorienter by Michael Salerno!




People especially enjoyed both the lighting of the room, and the soundtrack which was created by Mark Adams Sound Design, which was to emulate being aboard Dr. Grymm's traveling Steam Train Laboratory.

James Marsocci with his creation A.R.V.I.N. the Robot

The John Henry Device by James Muscarello and Joey Marsocci

Below is a slide show of some of the artwork and guests who came to the event, and more stories and images will be posted soon! Thanks to all who made this possible and the guests who showed up to attend the exhibit!

The Final Closing Party is tonight at 6-9PM for your last chance to see the exhibit live!

Sincerely;
~ Dr. Grymm

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN

This past weekend began the first of many film shoots for me for the documentary "I AM STEAMPUNK" by Neurotic Films. We traveled to Little Creek Farms in Green, RI and set up with the folks at Ajar Communications . This was a photo shoot for a Steampunk western photo project that will be featured at the upcoming Steampunk Bizarre. We met with Amy and Jeff Butzier the owners of the farm and horse handler, to get some shots of Doc' Grymm on horseback in the old west.

Two horses were featured in the shoot. Molly and Grace. Several shots were taken as the artist Mike Marchand, will be assembling a series of smaller shots to tell the story. Below are some of the sample photo's.

While "on set", there was... an incident. After 45 minutes of riding I was angrily bucked from the horse. I guess she decided that was long enough for the strange man with the brass guns to be on her back. I was only slightly injured, but the Weather or Naught Gun was destroyed.

Although there was no footage caught of the actual fall, there was this photo of the aftermath and some stock footage after the fact, of the horse being wrangled.

Perhaps I should have stuck to riding Pumpernickel the Pony instead.

Oh well, It's all in the name of STEAMPUNK!

See you back at the ranch!

~Dr. Grymm

STEAMPUNK MEET-UP - SUNDAY JULY 11th 2010

As part of the special events planned around the Steampunk Bizarre opening weekend, I will be hosting a Steampunk Meet Up on the Sunday following the opening reception. Local Steampunks (who MUST be in costume) are welcome to come and meet the artists, have a spot of tea, enjoy the exhibit while meeting other fascinating members of our Steampunk Society, and enjoy a very special performance by Veronique Chevalier, who will be performing some new musical selections written exclusively for the Exhibit!


Admission is free, although there is a suggested donation of $5 of which all proceeds will go towards assisting the Saint Mary's Home for the elderly in Hartford CT.

The film team of Neurotic Films will also be at the show to interview any willing guests who would like to be part of the upcoming Documentary "I AM STEAMPUNK", which will be released and premiered this fall at the Mark Twain House, Hartford CT.

It is shaping up to be a great event! I hope to see you there!

~Dr. Grymm

THE JOHN HENRY: WIP - Part 1

~The John Henry~

Illustration by Joey Marsocci

 As the 2010 Steampunk Bizarre approaches, I have decided to give a sneak peak at a large collaborative work between myself and master sculptor, toy maker, and illustrator James Muscarello. The subject of this piece originated on a Sunday drive listening to NPR and a story about the legend of John Henry. Remembering the stories and songs from childhood, (including my favorite from Johnny Cash)  I instantly had a wonderful brainstorm, that it was the perfect story for Dr. Grymm to twist into one of his malevolent creations.

My version of "Big Bad John" was not typical, as I knew I could take the ending of the story and rewrite it to fit the Steampunk world.. Well as Dr. Grymm sees it.  What better subject matter then man VS a steam driven rock hammer at the gritty turn of the century, to evoke thoughts of mad science gone terribly wrong.

This departure from my usual creations made me very excited. I knew I wanted the scale to be BIG. I knew this would be the perfect piece to introduce "Doc" Giuseppe Grymm Sr. into the picture and flush him out in sculpted form. To take some of the early machines of the Industrial Revolution and reinvent them using a more science fiction purpose. And of course to work with my friend, James, who was the first one that came to mind when I re-imagined the look of John Henry. He was glad to oblige, and we began to brainstorm on the look.  James would tackle the sculpting of the human figures, Dr. Grymm Sr. and John Henry, while I would design and build the mechanical aspects of the new improved steam engine and rock drills.

~THE BACK STORY~

The folklore and base of the story comes from a tall tale about a "steel drivin' man" in West Virginia who's unusual strength and stature literally assisted in carving out the hills and mountains of America, to make way for the railroad tracks in 1807.  As the story goes, a man invented a steam driven rock hammer that would make John and his fellow track workers obsolete. Not to be thrown aside for a machine, John challenges the rock drill to see which could get through the mountain first. Needless to say, John won the bet. The rock hammer was no match for John's strength and tenacity. However the challenge cost John his life and he handed his 20lb hammer off to his coworker in his last breath. Now in most cases of the legend, this is where the story ends, but not here.

~THE ALTERNATE STORY~

The scientific studies of reanimation by Doctor Grymm Sr. were known far and wide through the late 1800's. So when a defeated and embarrassed inventor finds himself at a secret meeting place with the illusive mad genius "Doc" Grymm, only dark and amazing things can happen. "How can it be that a man can beat a machine?" the man asks. "SIMPLE!" Grymm states... "Your machine has no heart, my good man... Not Yet!".

With the still warm body of John Henry on a direct route past The hidden Laboratory, Grymm makes no haste at robbing the coach of it's precious cargo and disappearing into the night.

The melding of man and machine is always a tricky operation and can never be done the same way twice. No two minds are alike and because of this the process always changes to keep not only the brain but also the composition of the man intact. By composition, I mean the thing that drives that particular person. In the case of John Henry, it was not only his brute strength but also his pride and determination. So began the process of building a machine to have perseverance and the strength of a man who would not, and could not quit. With this and a few added improvements to the original design, Doctor Grymm was able to create a machine that would quite literally do the work of 100 men. Not only drilling through the hardest of obstacles and materials, but also laying the track for hundreds of miles at a time without rest.

Simply put, the machine resurrected John Henry's heart and fueled the him to continuously repeat the perseverance of the last moments of his life, while John's strength in turn fueled the machine. A perfect give and take. Although his eyes now a dull reflection of lifelessness, this was easily hidden by darkened goggles. Several successful tests of "The John Henry" were performed by Grymm himself, to the delight of the young inventor. A machine that could not only drill through mountains but lay track and drive spikes quicker than a team of men. I machine that would not tire out. A machine that would not stop until the railway system was built across America! This is what the history books might have written, had it not been for the empty pockets of the young inventor.

It would seem that is all his excitement to see his invention rebuilt, he did not anticipate the Doctor's hefty fee associated with reanimating the dead, for his amazing reinvention. With weary bankers and wealthy relatives unwilling to spend another dime to finance any further failed inventions from the young man, he found himself alone without a trace of his original invention or the madman who made his dream into a nightmare. The young man was seen several weeks later, walking the dusty train tracks West, but was never seen again after that day... And neither was the John Henry contraption.

With this story in mind, James and I will be producing a large scale sculpture of the original sketch above that will  be approximately 4 1/2 feet in length. The sculpture will include sound, lights and steam effects. 

Below are some of the in progress shots of the sculpture  of "Doc Grymm" as he will be seen in the engine car. James sculpted this with a mixture of Super Sculpy and Fimo and it stands approx 7" tall.

I will include progress shots of John Henry soon as well as the build of the Rock Drill Engine. Stay tuned, and see it live at the Steampunk Bizarre 2010!

Stay Grymm;
~The Dr.

GEARING UP FOR THE STEAMPUNK BIZARRE

Greetings all.

As you might have guessed, I have been knee deep in the production and curating for the 2010 Steampunk Bizarre. A production of this scale does not happen overnight and I have the bags under my eyes to prove it!

So for now just a quick post to discuss some of the fine points of what I have been up to:

1. I have created an brand new website for Dr. Grymm Laboratories! It will showcase my work, merchandise, media gallery, the Steampug Adventures and of course the Steampunk Bizarre 2010 along with it's own journal.

http://www.drgrymmlaboratories.net/ is the new homepage so visit often for updates!

2. The STEAMPUNK BIZARRE will be featuring 23 International artists from CA, NY, PA, CT, and the UK!

3. A STEAMPUNK MEET-UP is planned for July 11th 5:00PM to 10:00PM at the Steampunk Bizarre. And I am honored to have the lovely and talented Steampunk songtress, Veronique Chevalier performing that night!

4. A Documentory Film is being produced about the Exhibit through Neurotic Films!

5. I am colaborating with a few artists in the show, including the amazingly talented James Muscarello on a piece of my design inspired by the legend of John Henry.  I will be posting a process blog on it's creation in the next few weeks, but here is a rough concept sketch.

6. My son, James is also one of the artists participating in this year's show. Below is some behind the steam shots of one of his creations, the Robo-Grymm Jr.  which will also be a snazzy lamp!

7. Dr. Grymm will be showcasing work at the STEAMPUNK FESTIVAL at the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation in Waltham, MA on Saturday, May 1st, 2010. 10:00AM - 4:00PM. Find out more about this event by clicking the image below.

And that about sums things up for now. I won't bore you with the particulars of the show production except to say that this will be one spectacular event!
I'll keep you posted on updates to the show, but you can also become a "Loyal Fan of Dr. Grymm Laboratories" on Facebook And visit the new WEBSITE often!

~Stay Grymm
The Dr.

The Numbers Are In...

I recieved a wonderful E-Mail from Dr. Jim Bennett, Museum Director of the Oxford Museum regarding the Steampunk Exhibit which ended last month. The final visitor numbers were tallied from the past few months and the results were amazing!

Dr. Bennett writes:

"I'm sure you have heard that the exhibition was an outstanding success. Visitor numbers were beyond all expectations, people's reactions were universally positive and the press coverage was great. Here are some statistics to back this up.

The total attendance during the four months of the exhibition was 78,537 which was amazing for the middle of the winter, when attendance is at its lowest. This was well over twice the figure for the same period in the previous year.Our YouTube video had about 55,000 views during the same period. We had to reprint ‘Broadsheet’ twice during the exhibition. Attendance at the special events in the programme was also very good, for example:

Makers' Day: 2,113

Steampunk Mannequins: 2,504

STEAM Day: 3,217

Final Saturday: 3,514

In terms of attendance figures, this was the most successful exhibition

ever mounted by the Museum. Attendance figures, while important, are not everything, so here is an example of an unsolicited email received from a visitor:

"I visited your museum on Saturday January 30th for the first time and wanted to give feedback on my visit as I did not see a visitors book. I really enjoyed my visit. We specifically went on that day to see the
Steampunk exhibition. I wanted to come to the Makers Day earlier in the month but the snow made it impossible.


I thought the exhibition was super, all the people going round seemed to be enjoying it, the visitors were animated when going round the exhibition. Also I thought it was a super idea to have some of the
museum’s exhibits in display cabinets at the end of the tour which fitted in with the Steampunk theme.


We travelled 150 miles round trip to see the exhibition from Leicestershire and it was well worth it. I would probably not visited the Museum of the History of Science without seeing the Steampunk exhibition mentioned on the BBC web site. But the video and write up led me to look at your web site (which I think was excellent) and plan to visit.

The museum was very crowded with visitors but it was nice to be surrounded by people talking and enjoying themselves in a museum, a positive experience.


Thank you for organising such a fascinating and enthralling event."

Once again, very special thanks to Art Donovan for putting together such an amazing event! I am honored that he and some of the other exhibitors from this show will be gracing the gallery of the second annual Steampunk Bizarre!


Cheers!
~Dr. Grymm

Dr. Grymm's International Press Coverage

As the Second Annual Steampunk Bizarre grows closer, and international eye has been shifted on Hartford, CT due to the varying locations of the participating artists. To help this along, I have been the focus of quite a few international publications. Two have recently reached my doorstep, and I am very excited to share them with you!

The first is Focus Storia Magazine out of Italy. This magazine covers both historical inventions and artwork mixed with a few great Steampunk articles including coverage on the Steampunk Oxford Exhibit which ended this month with record number attendance.

This is a high quality magazine with plenty of wonderful full color artwork and photos. For an online sample of the magazine, click HERE!

The second is an AMAZING collection of Steampunk in todays media appropriately entitled STEAM PUNK, from Electric Sheep Productions. Travel the Steampunk movement through it's original literary form to todays top artists, musicians, illustrators, and exhibits. The book is chock full of images both in color and mainly black and white. When I was approached by the authors a few months back for some images, I had no idea how prominantly my work would be displayed throughout the book! I am really honored to be a part of it. For a sneak peek at the introduction of the book go HERE. And to purchase your own copy, go HERE. It really is a beautiful publication, and although an English print version would be wonderful some day, I enjoy translating the French text on my own. A must for any fan of Steampunk!


On Exhibit news, my pieces returned safely from the Oxford University Steampunk Show, and have been placed back under lock and key until the next show. Preperation is in full steam for the Steampunk Bizzare 2, and the excitement is growing for all of us. There will be many surprises and I am really pushing the marketing of this show to reach as far as possible. The work of all of these artists is simply phenomenal, and the world deserves to share in it's wonders. Stay tunes as the offical website is brought to life, and the poster revealed later this week.

Until then, stay Grymm.

~ The Doctor

Steampunk Bizarre 2 - Artists Unveiled!

I would like to officially announce the artists who will be participating in the Second Annual Steampunk Bizarre Exhibit this July 9 - 17th 2010.

Mark Adams - CA
Emperor of the Red Fork Empire - RI

Chris Coonce-Ewing - CT

Noel Coonce-Ewing - CT

James Day - CT

Joseph Dinunzio Jr. - CT

Art Donovan - NY

Silas Finch - CT

Kiara Leistikow - CA

Jason May - RI

James Marsocci - RI

Mike Marchand - CT

Tim Marchand - CT

James Muscarello - CA

James Richardson-Brown - UK

Michael Salerno - NY

Carrie Swider - CT

Amanda Scrivener - UK

Melissa Williams - CT

Rob White - CT

Thomas Willeford - PA

Steve Ziolkowski - CA
And of course, hosted by and featuring the devious contraptions of Dr. Grymm,

This is going to be a huge event for the city of Hartford featuring an Open Reception, RSVP Event, and many special attractions will happen during the additional exhibit dates to draw in Steampunk enthusiast from near and far. The Exhibit will be held at the Hartford ArtSpace.


My goal for this year’s exhibit is to have artists of all unique mediums come together to show the possibilities of what Steampunk has to offer its growing fan base, as it hits the tipping point within the fine art and media culture.

I am encouraging the artists to study and explore what is already out there, then push it even further! Steampunk shouldn’t be stuffy, uptight and in a box. It is a science fiction world that never happened, so the possibilities are limitless!

There is a new website in the works to spotlight this event and the artists that will be up soon. Overall, I am thrilled and honored to be working with these artists. More information will be coming soon so check back in.

Until then, stay Grymm...

~The Dr.

Steampunk Bizarre 2 - The Experiment - Gaining Steam!

After the success of last year's first Steampunk Bizarre exhibit, I knew that this would have to be an annual event. I also knew that I wanted it bigger... faster... stronger. So I upped the anti. After the last show I was approached by several artists who expressed interest in the genre of Steampunk and I started taking names. This continued through a few other art exhibits I was part of and the interest in my fellow artists began to grow.

This fueled my theme for this year’s event, "The Experiment" as I have come to call it, and it began to take shape. The theme behind the show comes from the excitement these artists experienced when they learned about Steampunk and how it gelled with their own style. This excited me as an artist because if there nothing I like more about Steampunk, it’s the individuality of the artist’s representation of it, as opposed to pigeon-holing it into a certain time or style.

I also wanted to bring some of the fun and whimsy (along with the dark humor of Dr. Grymm) back into the art form by themeing the entire event down to the lighting, atmospheric sound FX, and food. Not too much will be divulged just yet, but the event will run for 3 weeks in July in Hartford CT. It will feature 22 artists from across the US and even a few from over seas!

The list for this eclectic feast of the 6 senses includes: film makers, sculptors, painters, comic book artists, musicians, instrument designers, costumers, assemblage artists, photographers, lighting designers, illustrators, sound designers, prop makers, and much more just to name a few. And I am honored to work with all of them!

In the coming weeks more will be revealed. A new site dedicated to the production of this undertaking will be designed to keep up to date with the artists involved and the details of the event. Mini showcases and Artist lectures will take place on the weeks surrounding the Opening Night Party as well.

There is even talk of  a documentary being filmed about this entire undertaking! To say I am overjoyed about this show is an understatement, so check back soon for more event announcements and details or contact me directly!

Stay Grymm…

~The Dr.

P.S. Image above featured on Technabob

COMING SOON...

More posts, hopefully!

Yes I am several posts behind, from my end of the year wrap up, to tales of new and in the works projects, and of course the exciting news about the arrival of my new baby boy!

Alas, my computer went kaplooey... So I have stolen away into the mid-day work week to commandeer a computer and leave at least this message as to my recent disappearance.

I hope to rectify the problem soon and bring you all the good news 2010 has to offer.

Until then, if you are on Facebook, be sure to join the fandom of Dr.Grymm Laboratories there, and you will be updated to all the latest goings on and even be invited to special events from there...

That is, when my computer is working again.


Be Grymm~
~The Dr.

PS. It would be wrong if I did not include a picture of my son and new addition, so here you go!