BROCKTON, MASS.- What happens when a group of visionary artists reimagine the city of Brockton in a retrofuture exhibition, where each object is a kind of speculative fiction, a fusion of modern sensibility with industrial antiques? What if the Brockton of 1892 (in its heyday of industrial power and innovation) collided with the present Brockton of 2016 and the future Brockton of 2092? What would have been produced: inventions, gadgets, art, dress, and shoes? A select group of designers, metal workers, kinetic sculptors, engineers, model builders, and printmakers were asked to answer these very questions. Their responses are the subject of a new exhibition opening at Fuller Craft Museum called Old Sole of the New Machine: Steampunk Brockton – Reimagining Shoe City.

From the anthropomorphic works of Brockton native Alaina Mahoney, to the kinetic contraptions of steampunk artist Gary Sullivan, bespoke furniture maker John Belli, and mechanical engineer Todd Cahill—all 15 participating artists adhere to the core principles of Steampunk art and design: reimagine, make, create (recreate), repurpose, and infuse. The Steampunk philosophy offers a way for all of us to solve design problems by pushing us to think less in terms of either/or, and more in terms of pluralities. Changing our thinking patterns by focusing our energies on improvement and creative problem solving helps us affect change in meaningful ways. Visually, this process helps us begin to explore an alternate identity for the city of Brockton.

What is Steampunk?
Steampunk is a reimagining of two (or more) distinct time periods and the unlimited creative and functional inventions that would have been produced with 20(past)/20(present)/20(future) hindsight and foresight.

The exhibition will present approximately 20 – 25 objects including:

1. “Shumachine” – Inventor turns into the Invention he created

2. Functional Art - repurposing period shoe Manufacturing equipment and integrating new technologies and objects

3. Transforming period shoes, sneakers and boots into functional art

Steampunk Springfield: Re-Imagining an Industrial City
This exhibition is the second iteration under the curation of steampunk visionary Bruce Rosenbaum. The first was Steampunk Springfield: Re-Imagining an Industrial City, which was on view from March 22 to September 28, 2014 in the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, at the Springfield Museums (www.springfieldmuseums.org) in Springfield MA. It is the first City-Wide Steampunk event including other community partners as the CityStage Theater, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, UMASS Amherst, Springfield Tech Community College, Futurescape Springfield, Develop Springfield, Springfield Armory and the Central Library. This collaborative city-wide celebration embraced the Steampunk philosophy to re-imagine the city’s history and reinvent itself in the process, presenting thematic Steampunk programming, events, performances, major exhibition and satellite displays throughout the downtown area.