So I'm into Dieselpunk. I favor the post-apocalyptic flavor, but I like to mix the aesthetics from Art Deco to Brutalism to Modernism.
Before anyone goes off on that "label's being confining" jag, I've been thinking about this. There is nothing completely new. Creativity is a conglomeration of prior experience. To express one's self means to attempt to communicate with others. If you speak a language only you understand, then you don't communicate. Expression is approximation.
Some Dieselpunk thematic inspiration:
- Mad Max
- Sin City
- Batman Begins
- V for Vendetta
- 1984
- Metropolis
- Brazil
With that, I've been loosely kicking around ideas for the ride lately. My car is one of my "art" pieces. It's an ongoing creation process to appeal to my aesthetic yet have function at the same time. In it, I'm trying to incorporate a retro muscle rat-rod meets post-apocalyptic/mad max meets WWII armor.
As it is the car was a 1963 Fairlane 500, until I installed a built automatic transmission, disc brake conversion, and a 335hp 351w that came from a wrecked Highway Patrol car. I spent a winter modifying and rebuilding the engine. It moves. I'm also looking to maybe drop a Diesel motor in and see if I can't hot rod a grease car. If you don't know, grease cars are able to burn used cooking oil once they're brought up to temperature.
Lastly, I have to take up welding. It's a vital skill that I haven't managed to acquire yet. I'll be posting more technical discussions regarding the machine as I go.
Some inspirational pics for the ride:
4 comments:
There has been a crying need for some name beyond "sci fi" for some time now. Much of the science fiction that I Read and enjoyed indeed had little science; it was simply in a futuristic setting the better to examine social phenomenon. I wore out on post-apocalypse stuff a long while back, tho' I enjoy it as movies if not reading. Favorites of mine like Dune, The Gameplayers of Zan, and the best (by Doris Lessing) Canopus in Argos: Archives fall into the un-named, nearly science free "How do we keep doing this shit to ourselves in the name of religion, politics, etc" category.
Regarding social self-examination, JG Ballard of which I refer to often is the best I've found. Technically in the realm of SciFi (he studied medicine before committing to writing) his novels are close enough to now to serve as an implicit warning, a psycho/socio interspection, or a survival handbook as some of his absurdities have come to pass.
If I can ever get a moment to actually read an entire book again, I'll check out Lessing.
BTW, the labyrinth is nice. I hope it was cathartic. Good luck to your family from another former soldier. May we find our way back someday...
I hear you about the time for an entire book! I used to read two or three a week....now, hah! If I get through one a month it's a miracle. The Labyrinth, well, lets say it is an ongoing cartharsis; I'd likely feel better if I could sacrifice deserving sorts on the central stone! Trying to stay focused on all soldiers---former and current when I work out there!
Sorry for reviving such an old post but....
Star Wars is, in my opinion, not sci fi, its what my friend calls "space opera". It took me a long time to understand his point, but now its clear. It takes place in space, its basically a soap opera, there isn't much science. OR "strong on the fiction, lite on the science".
I like the list of Dieselpunk thematic inspiration. I would add to it:
anything manufactured by Bugati (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti)
anything for sale at clarktrucks (http://www.clarktruck.com/).
but thats just me. :)
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