Steam Power With A Side Of Punk

There was a time when steam powered the machines of the industrial revolution. Think Victorian-era Britain for example. Or the locomotives that spurred the expansion of the American West.

Now, something of a steam-powered revival is underway, but it’s taking place in art galleries instead of the factory floor. It’s called “steam punk,” and it blends steam power design with science fiction and fantasy.

An exhibition called “Steam Punk: Form And Function” recently opened at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation in Waltham, Massachusetts. Here and Now’s Andrea Shea took a tour, to see if the steam punk movement is more than just a lot of hot air.

• WBUR Video: Steampunk- Art, Science And A Little Bit Of Nemo