If I go to Google and enter the word Steampunk, I get the following:
What if steampunk wasn’t tied to the Victorian era? Can you take all the physical attributes of steampunk and apply them to a totally different place and time? Imagine taking Steampunk’s love for alternate history, inventions, and fashion and applying it to somewhere and somewhen else.
If you could move steampunk to another place and time, where and when would it be?
Now, I know what some of you are thinking “Cool idea, but isn’t this supposed to be a cake blog?” The idea of applying steampunk to somewhere and somewhen else actually came to me while looking at this stunning cake:
This absolutely gorgeous cake mixes an Asian woman pouring tea and steampunk. The results are both beautiful and thought provoking. The woman’s clothes are a mixture of fine Asian silks and steampunk. Her silk gown is Asian, but her collar, shoulder pads, and belts are from a different era. In the middle of the bright blue and red fabric of her gown is a copper toned piece of cloth which also looks like it belongs to another place and time. Even her hair is a mixture of large hair pins and gears.
The squid? I sincerely hope that doesn’t belong in any place or time. At least not any place or time I’m visiting. It looks like something best kept in a nightmare realm.
This absolutely amazing cake was made by Liz Marek from the Artisan Cake Company. This was Liz’s contribution to Steampunk Sugar Geeks, a collaboration between cake decorators which celebrates steampunk. Liz took items which don’t go together and blended them into something absolutely gorgeous, slightly unsettling, and very though provoking.
Remember how I describe this cake as slightly unsettling in the last paragraph? Now you see why.
I can’t tell if the steampunk squid is strapped onto her back, hence the three belts on her silk gown –or- if the steampunk squid is part of her. The first option is bizarre, while the second is creepy.
So why is the animal most associated with steampunk a squid? If anyone has a good answer, please leave me a comment bellow.
Here is my guess. Many people consider Jules Verne to be the father of steampunk and a squid plays a famous role in 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. While I think that is certainly part of the steampunk squid origin, I think there is another influence – H.P. Lovecraft and his squid faced monster Cthulhu.
