Retrocom. Mass Panic: The World of Atom Punk. Art History Through Sci Fi-Colored Glasses. Pastiche? Mash-up? The best form of flattery? Whatever you want to call it, artists have enjoyed riffing on historical paintings for ages. For some, it’s a fun way to learn and explore issues of color, composition, and application of paint by intimately copying from a master. John Mattos took on Marcel Duchamp’s mechanically abstracted Nude Descending a Staircase and brilliantly reset it with C3PO.
Tim O’Brien hears his master’s robotic voice. Abbott Handerson Thayer, often noted as a painter of angels, punked up a bit by Greg Manchess. Cyril van der Haegen inserts unspeakable evil into N. It’s a tough race to see what has been parodied more: the Mona Lisa, American Gothic, or Napoleon Crossing the Alps. Tristan Elwell invokes Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa for the cover to Jo Walton’s novel Tooth and Claw. Thanks to Zelda Devon for pointing me to this William Stout, an homage to Norwegian artist Theodor Kittelsen’s “The White Bear King.”
Irene Gallo is the art director of Tor Books. The Red Scare. « Mass Panic: The World of Atom Punk. Dieselpunk (Teslapunk) or Atomicpunk. LoganActorJun 28 2010, 07:06 AMI've heard of Dieselpunk, and I get the concept of atompunk, but haven't read anything in either of those genre's. Dieselpunk (visually, anyway) seems to be a lot grittier and more down to earth than Steampunk. It's all about the grease and grime of a mechanic's shop, with the sleek lines of cars/planes in the 30's and 40's with the big oversized front grills and lots of chrome trim. Things that make me think of the dieselpunk world are films like The Rocketeer (though it's just this side of the Steampunk/Dieselpunk divide), Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Iron Giant, games like Crimson Skies, and even Batman: The Animated Series in some places. When he's being playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne and hanging out at parties and benefits, Gotham (especially when it comes to the cars and architecture) seems very late 30's early 40's to me.
Really anything with evil fascist villians who possess advanced technology. Stonepunk. Bronzepunk. Sandalpunk. Steampunk'd - The best resource for Steampunk, Dieselpunk and Atompunk imagery on the web.