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Wednesday, May 09, 2012 By Splash staff
 Professor William Whatley, as he is known in Steampunk circles, will be taking part in the Watch City Festival this weekend in Waltham, Mass. -
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Watch City
gets in gear
for Steampunk
More than 20,000 going to Waltham
for annual festival this weekend
By Watertown Splash staff
When it comes to steam engines and gears, no one is as excited to see them as Elln Hagney, so it’s no surprise that she is the executive director of the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation.
The museum is full of items from the Industrial Revolution, from watches to steam-powered engines.
There’s one thing that Hagney looks forward to all year long, the Watch City Festival in Waltham, Mass. The second annual event is May 12 and 13, and is a fund-raiser for the Waltham museum. There was a flood at the museum in March 2010 that caused $500,000 worth of damage.
The festival is Steampunk themed, meaning it’s full of gears and steam engines. Hagney helps get the festival together.
When you walk into the Watch City Festival, your first question will be, “What the heck is going on?”
There will be clocks, robots, radios, Victorian fashion, hot air balloons, and some really dedicated Steampunk enthusiasts.
“Steampunks” always ask themselves the question, “What if the historical people who invented technology never existed? What would the world be like now?”
When inventing gadgets, Steampunks reimagine technology. There are many Steampunk-themed things, such as home design, music, and art.
“Steampunk is a mix of Victorian times and modern technology,” said Hagney. “[Victorian times] marked the beginning of the Industrial Revolution from between 1850 to 1920.”
There will be many artists and performers at the festival, including the work of the museum’s resident artist, David Gordon. His art features the use of technology and mixed media, as well as sculpture.
“Modern technology is so streamlined, whereas in steam power you can take it apart and see how it works,” said Gordon, who will have some of his work on display at the festival.
This year, 20,000 people are expected to attend the festival in Waltham, which calls itself “the original Steampunk city.”
The festival will feature hours of entertainment, including belly dancing, music concerts, costumes, hot air balloon rides and races, and even an election for mayor, which has come down to an ape named Rupert Cornelius and a wealthy businessman named Baron Von Lahey.
M.T. Anderson, an author for young adults, and Queen Clara, an honorary monarch, will be special guests for the event.
Steampunk creations will be showed, including a model steam engine that runs on coal, which will provide rides for children.
Although many of the festival events are free, admission to everything is $20 for adults the weekend, and $15 for a day. For kids, it is $10 for the weekend or $7 for a day.
The festival is run by the museum with help from Steampuffin, a modern-day Steampunk website that provides tours and tickets to see different Steampunk inventions.
Everyone is welcome to dress up in Steampunk clothes and people can dress up as characters that are either based on novels or movies, or made up creatively by the person.
Normally, when you see Santa Claus in a jetpack. It seems weird. Not to Steampunk fans.
Professor William Whatley -- like many people into live action role playing, many people into Steampunk become different characters -- has a big, white Santa beard and wears a black bowler hat and, on his back, a ham radio and a GPS attached to it. Those were in a square wooden Steampunk backpack and a tube light. There was a huge antenna, too, attached to the rim of his bowler.
The professor said he didn’t need to use so many parts to make it, but he did.
“Nothing’s ever simple in Steampunk,” said the Professor.
Steampunk is a unique genre that started as a literary genre in the 1980s. The genre is generally based on Victorian England, the time period between 1837 and 1901.
Steampunk is basically Victorian science fiction. It is a subculture that imagines a Victorian world with modern technology. People dress up in Victorian era clothing, while using the new technology we have today.
Steampunk fashion would look something like a mix of Victorian era, classic Goth, gypsy, and industrial creating a whimsical, adventurous, inventive look. In many Steampunk outfits, you might notice the attire isn’t very brightly colored. The clothing is black, brown, and many other dim hues.
Two of the most popular steampunk authors are H.G. Wells, author of “War of the Worlds,” and Jules Verne, author of “20,000 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.” A lot of people also consider Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” a Steampunk novel.
These books all have examples of Steampunk that many people wouldn’t notice. For example in “Frankenstein,” the technology shown was very futuristic for its time (1818), showing skin grafts and heart transplants, and showing the making of a monster with life. All of these books showed examples of technology above its time period in very interesting ways.
“Steampunk is an attempt to create the world of Victorian times as it did in the minds of the writers of the times,” Hagney said, mentioning Wells and Verne.
For generations movies have captured our imaginations on film and made our dreams realities. Movies have also been influenced by Steampunk. Elements of Steampunk, such as clocks, gears, and machinery are parts of movies such as “Hugo,” “The Golden Compass,” and the Robert Downey version of “Sherlock Holmes.”
The reason steampunk is so often present in movies is because it is so fantastical.
Steampunk turns real life into the extraordinary.
(For information about the Waltham City Festival, go to www.watchcityfestival.com. For information about the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation, go to www.crmi.org/.)
(Watertown Splash staff reporters Alexis C., Amin T., Ani A., Arshdeep S., Claire B., Devan C., Julia D., Dylan F., Frankie H., Isaac G., Jackson D., James D., Kourtney K., Mahdi A., Ruby R., Samantha S., Sara G., Sawyer A., and Sofia D. reported and wrote this story.)
--May 8, 2012--
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Professor William Whatley, Elln Hagney, executive director of the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation, and artist David Gordon (left to right) talk with Watertown Splash reporters about the annual Watch City Festival to be held May 12-13 in Waltham, Mass.
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Professor William Whatley, Elln Hagney, executive director of the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation, and artist David Gordon (left to right) talk with Watertown Splash reporters about the annual Watch City Festival to be held May 12-13 in Waltham, Mass.
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Professor William Whatley (left) and Elln Hagney, executive director of the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation talk about the annual Watch City Festival to be held May 12-13 in Waltham, Mass. On the table in front of them are a cane and a Roomba, both tricked out Steampunk style in the sprit of the festival.
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