A very nice documentary about the Steampunk exhibition at the Oxford Museum of the History of Science.

This exhibition was curated by Art Donovan who you will recall did a similar gallery show in the Hamptons last year.

[Via Make:Blog]

The Steampunk exhibition at the Oxford Museum of the History of Science opened yesterday!

Art Donovan writes:

I promise you that the art in this show is nothing like you have ever seen! Not to be "booster-ish" or anything, but I've had to wire my jaw closed after seeing the artist's works in the completed installation.

Dr. Bennett and his Museum Staff have presented an exhibition that is truly unique, culturally significant and absolutely unrivaled. (The private opening party tonight was astounding). Location: Broad Street, Oxford.

WIRED also has a nice slideshow with images of the artwork on display!

  Photo courtesy of Fumi

When I was growing up there were all sorts of electronics kits available for those of us who were interested in learning more about the subject.  My favorite birthday gift was the Radio Shack 150in1 Electronic Projects Kit I got when I was eight. 

As I got older I would drool over each copy of the latest Heathkit Catalog - I really, really wanted to build that 25" Color Television!

Unfortunately, many of the companies that made these wonderful products have long fallen victim to the pressures of globalization, the declining interest of hobbyists, and the fact that many of the classic projects have lost relevance to today's enthusiasts.

Enter the Open Source entrepreneur Limor Fried. Limor's company, Adafruit Industries offers a line electronics kits that are fun to build but even more importantly, relevant to today's technology - you'll not find any SCR 3-channel Color Organs here! She has made Adafruit a success by offering learning experiences and fun, not just a box of parts and a mimeographed sheet of instructions.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Limor about her company, click through for that and some pictures of one of Adafruit's kits that I've just completed.

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From the artist's site:

Thomas has been working constantly as a professional artist since 1986, but his private projects tend to feature the mysterious,uncanny,sometimes darkly horrific and bittersweet sad aspects of human nature.He has devoted a lifetime to aquire the skills of designer, sculptor, mechanician, automatist, animator, modelmaker, painter and conceptualist.

Thomas' work is pretty amazing! Be sure to watch through the demonstration of the automaton above, the second half of the video details some of it's construction. There are more movies of Thomas' creations here, and you can visit his website here.

Back in October Meredith visited briefly with Aaron Ristau at Maker Faire Austin. Aaron is a sculptor who works primarily with found bits of technological detritus, from his website:

Technology surrounds us. Products are obsolete within an ever decreasing amount of time, putting an increasing strain on our ability to deal with man made waste. Man's recyclable and manufactured surplus as a sculptors medium lends itself to an infinite variety of possibilities, which creates a whole new genre for sculptors'. By intricately integrating and redefining the purpose of reclaimed components, the completion of a sculpture is a triumph over obsolescence and the reward of creative vision.

Aaron has recently finished a series of pieces that are very much in the Steampunk style and to our great delight has sent them to us for their unveiling!  There are a several more pics after the cut and an amazing amount of beautiful work at Aaron's website, my particular favourite are the series of lamps and lit sculptures!

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