Steampunk menorah

My pal Roger Wood, the mad clock sculptor of Klockwerks.com, really puts the "Ch" back in "Channukah" with this steampunk menorah.

(via Cribcandy)

Previously:

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: Art and Design • hannukah • klockwerks • menorah

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Ito Kagehisa

First google hit on “steampunk banana”:

http://www.steampunklab.com/watches/Banana/178

Just look at it!!!
scifijazznik

I could imagine a steampunk dreidel spinner maybe, but put me in with the curmudgeony crowd on this one. If I attached copper pipes and guages to a plate and eating utensils, do I have a steampunk dining set or just something useless and stupid? I thought the idea was all the gewgaws were supposed to at least create the appearance of having some function.
designian

How about a jet age menorah as a chaser?
http://www.ianmilne.ca/products/retail_therapy/images/retail_therapy.php?directory=.&currentPic=4
Anonymous

Reminded me of this one:
http://www.junktion.co.il/page%2007/products%20html/channukia.html
ed_g

Steampunk artefacts are occasionally charming where there’s some connection between all the dials, gauges and levers and the object’s purpose. Articles which are attractive because of mysterious hints at some sort of functionality. This is just daft, and ugly too.
slipperyskip

I’m a fan of Steampunk but that is just awful and stupid.
whomever

A functional steampunkish menorah would be a bit more interesting. Say, oil fueled with a nice knob to control the number of flames and an elegant brass housing. Maybe add a little musical chime coinciding with each flame being lit. Although, that may be more Victorian-ish than steampunkish, I suppose.
Felix Mitchell

Is this actually real or just ‘shopped?

I don’t like the way the top is just a block with stuff stuck on. Why couldn’t delicate pipes be used for all the candles? And it looks like the the rightmost knob is an anachronistic bakelite design.
Day Vexx

Should’ve incorporated something like pilot lights, or something that hinted at possible functionality. Or go a different route– make it look like the base could walk around, with jointed legs, etc… to carry the menorah around!
noahpoah

This post is nonsensical on every level. Chooray for absurdist comedy!
Tom Hanks

I appreciate and respect the Steampunk aesthetic. I would totally light this Menorah (even though I’m not Jewish). In fact, I challenge anyone to make holiday-related Steampunk apparatuses that are cooler than this.

That said, I do wish the good portion of Steampunk designs I see were pushed a little further with more functionality than is implied. Though in fairness, our compact Ray Gun technology isn’t quite, well, invented yet.
dwdyer

The 9-pin miniature audio tube was invented in 1938. I know Steampunk isn’t strictly tied to a point in time, but I’d say something that modern goes against the aesthetic. To my eye (other than the over-cluttered thing going here — there’s no illusion that the elements might actually do something) that stands out as something that just doesn’t belong.
demidan

To quote the dread pirate Roberts,”Dear God what is that thing?”. While much of Steam Punkery is quite good this this thing is just wrong, where’s the symmetry? The candle on the right looks to be saying, “oh yeah the oil burned for eight days not seven, hand me the torch and that piece of elbow macaroni please.”
- Art
  
  Mr. Wood transposed the location “Shamas” (usually located in the center) but in this case he moved it to the right side and placed higher than the eight to illustrate it’s significance.
  
  Regards, Art
Moriarty

1. Lamp oil. Obviously.
2. Gears and guages that actually do something. Even something useless. (Oil pressure? Needlessly complex menorah-rotating mechanism?)
3. Or at least LOOK like they do something. What’s a guage sticking out of a block of wood supposed to be? Why would a holder of wax candles have anything like that?

[/heckling]
Anonymous

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TKR8M7NAJs
UncommonSense

Put me down in the FAIL camp. Should at least have the look of having a functional purpose. Does this thing light itself?
Mitch

Kids these days. Slap a bunch of gauges and tubes together and call it a steampunk menorah.
jfrancis

I always wondered what a menorah would have looked like had they existed all the way back in Victorian times. Now I know.
Art

In all fairness to Mr. Wood. He has created an enormous quantity of iconic, beautiful and evocative “Steampunk-Inspired” devices.

A quick visit to his website would certainly prove his talent.
bitslayer

Cry wll pst nythng wth brss nd dls n t n mttr hw lm. t’s s bd s CmdrTc sd t gt wth Bwlf clstrs. thnk ‘ll strt tggng ll stmpnk psts wth “Cn y mgn Stmpnk clstr f ths?”
- scifijazznik
  
  Thank you for the transcript of what the parents and teachers say in all of the Peanuts cartoons.
  
  Fck ff. Srsly.
lewis stoole

are you posting this because you could not find a steampunk banana?