Steampunk Bizarre Closing Party!

That's right, after some twisting of the arm, the Doctor has decided to have one last gathering to celebrate the artists and showpieces of the Steampunk Bizarre. Although this will be a smaller gathering than our opening we hope it will give Middletown residents a chance to see what Art and the creation of these unusual film props can bring to our community and local filmmakers.

The Show has been running since May 1st and the opening party brought in a very large crowd, with weekend viewing hours being no exception. It's amazing who will wander in off the street when they see a brain in a jar talking, or a 15 foot tall parachute dress!

I have spent the past few weekends watching the gallery and in between lulls, standing at the wide glass window that looks out on Main Street, tinkering with junk to build new pieces which were not originally shown on opening night. and while I stand there in my bowler hat and goggles polishing vacuum tubes and hammering away at brass pieces, you better believe I get some peculiar looks. and while some just pass on by with a smirk, most came back around and popped their heads in, eventually leading to them spending twenty-plus minutes talking to be. Some are local families and business owners, some have been out-of-towners, but all amazed that sitting in this little interesting town, is a prop making company.

It has been wonderful meeting people in this community who have come in to see the show. Several people admittedly did not know what to expect, but asked many questions and were fascinated by this new art form called "Steampunk". I, of course, gladly gave them a history of the meaning and background or the term and found myself to be swept up in it all over again describing each piece and why it was created. As previously mentioned in the press release...

"Steampunk: The scholar’s Science Fiction.

Born from the imaginations of H.G. Welles, Mary Shelley, Jules Verne, Nikola Tesla and several others, Steampunk offers a melding of late 1800's aesthetic with scientific discovery and other-worldly technology. Though Steampunk reached a tipping point recently, it is not just a current trend. The Steampunk aesthetic has been woven through our media and consciousness for more than a century in books, film, music, fashion, and art.

Today, the Steampunk movement is alive with artistic creation and ideas to bring “a world that never happened” into reality. Steampunk artists create an alternate world not bound by the modern millennial conventions of physics, science and convenience technology. Steampunk is a chance for artists to build with their hands and their imaginations, just as the great innovators of the Industrial Revolution did.

Hosted by The Libertine Collective and SteamGearLab.com, this gallery art show will harness just a tiny cog in the great machine that is Steampunk. The show will be alive with sights and sounds of ingenious and strange contraptions. The mission of this show is to give both a history and a premonition of this art form by bringing together local artists to share their vision of what Steampunk is and will be."

So please, during these last few days, stop on by! The Closing Party will be held Friday May 22nd 7-10pm and final viewing hours will be Saturday 10am - 2pm (perhaps later if I feel the need) and Sunday 10am - 12 pm, which at that time it will be disassembled and brought back to the lab, (for more tinkering).

Hope to see you this weekend!

~Doctor Grymm