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Steampunk style visits Asheville with music, artwork, brass goggles
AAaeve Callahan
mecalloh@unca.edu - Staff Writer
Free booze, live music and
original artwork lured people
to downtown art gallery Za-
Pow on Saturday night for the
opening reception of the Ste
ampunk Carnival art show.
“Steampunk is a rnergmg
of future technology with Vic
torian design,” said Asheville
resident Iman Payne. “You see
everything from corsets to old
school goggles, but with an
iPhone.”
Steampunk began as a tan-
tasy literary subgenre celebraF
ine the social and technologi
cal aspects of the 19th century.
The name steampunk refers
to a post-apocalyptic world
where the steam-powered ma
chines of the 19th century have
mainstream use, according to
steampunk.com, a website for
information, costumes and
culture for enthusiasts.
Steampunk fans eventually
married the fantasy world into
reality by steampunking every
day objects such as computers,
telephones and jewelry. An
object becomes steampunk d
by decorating it with brass or
copper and enhancing it with
engravings or etchings, ac
cording to steampunk.com.
A steampunk dresses in Vic
torian fashions such as cor
sets, top hats and trench coats.
Asheville resident Mandy
Shupe described the fashion as
brown goth. ,
“It started as a hobby but be
came a lifestyle,” said Ashley
Leckwold, assistant to The ex
traordinary Contraptions band
“My home isn’t steampunk d
with accessories, but I will
definitely put my jewelry on
before I go out everyday.
ZaPow, which claims to
be the only popular culture
art gallery in the southeast,
dedicated the first two walls
of its 3,000 square foot space
to original artworks inspired
by steampunk. The member
artists of ZaPow, who pay a
monthly fee for wall space to
display their work, chose the
steampunk theme for the show.
Owner Lauren Johnson said
each of the artists contributed
a few original pieces inspired
by the steampunk world.
Joshua-Marc Levy created
two works of art for the show.
A flashlight-painting photo
graph captures the image of his
wife wearing the steampunk
goggles he purchased on Etsy
shortly after discovering the
theme of the show.
“There are different levels of
steampunk. You have the hard-,
core steampunkers in complete
Victorian dress, talking in ac
cents and role-playing. And
then there is the street level
steampunk, which is more
punk with ripped clothes and
gadgets,” Levy said.
Images of top hats, metal
fairy wings and 19th century
bicycles filled the two walls of
the gallery.
Steampunk elephants rode
bicycles and steampunk pup
pies wore the old school gog
gles that Payne and Levy men
tioned as being central to the
steampunk fashion.
In the back of ZaPow, French
Broad Brewing “ Company
poured free beer into red plas
tic cups while The Extraordi
nary Contraptions performed.
The Atlanta-based quartet fit
Levy’s description of hard
core steampunkers.
Dressed in corsets, wigs and
velvet pants, the group pre
formed their steampunk rock
music with theatrical flair.
In the front of the gallery,
Johnson tended to the perma
nent line of customers waiting
to purchase various art pieces.
“It’s a cool idea if they were
making the clothes, but instead
they just end up spending a lot
of money,” Payne said.
Photo by Ricky Emmons - Photography
Zachary Galiwas shows off his steampunk attire at the Steampunk Carnival art show.
Editor