The Machine Anxieties of Steampunk: Contemporary Philosophy, Victorian Aesthetics, and the Future

Description

What is steampunk and why are people across the globe eagerly embracing its neo-Victorian aesthetic? Old-fashioned eye goggles, lace corsets, leather vests, brass gears and gadgets, mechanical clocks, the look appears across popular culture, in movies, art, fashion, and literature. But steampunk is both an aesthetic program and a way-of-life and its underlying philosophy is the key to its broad appeal. Steampunk champions a new autonomy for the individual caught up in today's technology-driven society. It expresses optimism for the future but it also delivers a note of caution about our human role in a world of ever more ubiquitous and powerful machines. Thus, despite adopting an aesthetic and lifestyle straight out of the Victorian scientific romance, steampunk addresses significant 21st-century concerns about what lies ahead for humankind. The movement recovers autonomy from prevailing trends even as it challenges us to ask what it is to be human today.

Kathe Hicks Albrecht serves on the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities, a presidential appointment, and is a faculty member at the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts (IDSVA). Albrecht has represented educators on many national and international boards including the Visual Resources Association, Digital Future Coalition, National Initiative for a Networked Cultural Heritage (NINCH), and the US Commerce Department's Conference on Fair Use (CONFU). Albrecht holds a doctorate in Philosophy and Art Theory (IDSVA), a Masters, Art History (American University), and Bachelors, Art History (UCLA).

The Machine Anxieties of Steampunk provides a fascinating insight into the contemporary art movement's relationship to current thinking and major philosophical trends. Importantly, it brings to focus the struggle of today's individual as she navigates our complex and technologically networked world. Kathe Albrecht reveals that steampunk-egalitarian, inclusive, optimistic-offers a bridge to the future. It is only when we open up the traditional art history canon, as Albrecht does here, that we can forge a path forward that recognizes the contributions of all. * Susan Fisher Sterling, The Alice West Director, National Museum of Women in the Arts, USA * Kathe Albrecht's book opens our eyes to a whole new field of philosophical and aesthetic inquiry, and marks a significant turn in the current debates concerning the future of Homo sapiens. * George Smith, Founder and President, and Edgar E. Coons, Jr. Professor of New Philosophy, Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts, USA *