Well the Steampunk Bizarre gala opening finally opened last Friday, and despite many bumps, somehow it opened to a very favorable crowd who liked it. I say liked it in that we had nothing but awesome things said to us about it, and I wish to remain humble about the entire experience. But yes, in a nut shell, it was awesome. The team I decided to pull together just a few short months ago, dazzled me with professionalism and teamwork. Silas Finch wowed the audience with his marvelous 15 foot parachute dress and flying vessel, while Noel Ewing-Coonce not only brought a flair of class and the macabre, but also dished out quite the hors dourves and refreshments. P Vanderway skillfully recreated the voice of Amelia Earhart to life using my script, and Mark Adams worked wonders on such a short time line, to brilliantly make a sound mix for my machines that still makes me excited hearing it. What should have taken a year to prepare really only took 5 months, and 2 of those months were with the addition of Noel and Silas to the mix, (which was definitely a good executive decision on my behalf).
Truth be told, the past 3 weeks I had somehow convinced myself that this show would be an utter failure. Not for the guest artists but for myself, for Steam Gear Lab. This was after all, my first gallery show, but it seemed like no matter where I turned something was keeping me from doing my best. I could not bare the thought of having any of the pieces show up in some sort of half-assed state of completion. Most who really know me, know that just isn't my style. It's not good enough to me even if the audience doesn't know that it's not 100%. I know and it would bother me.
Regardless of my lack of optimism, I had quite the cheerleading squad to keep me pressing on. And so, right up until show time, we all worked to get the show ready. And ready it was for the guests who lined up at the door. Yes I am pleased to report that there was a steady stream of guests in the gallery all evening! Some arrived decked out in full Steampunk attire, others curious about the whole genre, looked on in awe at both the artwork and the other guests. At 7:05 when I rolled the Poe Machine into place and clicked the power on, I suddenly felt relieved. We had done it. A gallery full of intriguing artwork from top to bottom. In my head I had guessed that the gallery was bigger and possibly growing, enough to trick me into thinking that we would never have enough art to fill the space. But we did. I stood back later that night after the guests left and felt proud.
As far as the guests were concerned, it was a nice surprise to meet so many new people, artists from the community, mixed with old friends I had not seen in a very long time. One of the highlights of the night was having James there. He had 2 pieces in the show and was so proud of them. He got alot of attention and would tell whomever wanted to listen, exactly how his inventions worked. It was a great experience for him and I was very glad his mom brought him to see this. Lets hope there are more artistic adventures in his future. Anyhue, take a look for yourself. I have made a video of the show and a slide show below, as well as two separate videos of the Amelia and Poe machines that I will blog about separately to give the back stories.
Very special thanks to all the artists who participated, and to everyone who came out to see the show.
~Doctor Grymm
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