museum of a Past that wasnt?!

[Doctor When]

Indeed. I can think of a few local (Birmingham) spaces which might be interested, and I know several of the right people to speak to when the time comes...

[Tinkergirl]

Well, if there is the intention to do it digitally at first, then I can lend webspace for it on the brassgoggles.co.uk domain, or if pressed, we could look into getting a seperate domain for it.

Next you'd need someone rather swish at making websites, or an easily modifyable template/css.

After that, you'd have to work out which exhibits would be on show, and get some high quality photographs of the items in question, as well as a little blurb written for them.  I know Mr Hildebrandt loves writing his little fictional backgrounds for his own creations - perhaps something like that would be in order (along with a little, suble link to bring up the 'real' information).  You'd then have to arrange the exhibits by category. 

Creating a fictional location, opening hours, cafe menu, and most important of all - a NAME for the museum would then be your final hurdles.  You'd probably want a 'board of directors' too

TASKS:

• Web Hosting - Must be able to withstand a BoingBoing link, or perhaps even a Digg.
• Web Design - Either custom, or a modifyable template/CSS.  Web design isn't simple if we don't want it looking horrid.
• Exhibit List - Good photographs of each item, and a blurb to accompany them.
• Arrange Site - Categorize the items, and ensure ease of navigation.
• Museum Creation - Location, Opening Hours, Cafe Menu, Directions, Disclaimer, Board of Directors, and the NAME.

[Gnome]

Not to mention benefactors of various sorts. For some reason, wealthy bored people seem to love having wings of academic institutions named after them...

[CapnHarlock]

# Web Hosting - Must be able to withstand a BoingBoing link, or perhaps even a Digg.
# Web Design - Either custom, or a modifyable template/CSS.  Web design isn't simple if we don't want it looking horrid.

I have been rather madly busy with paying projects, of late (evidenced by the fact my own hobby sites are dreadfully unfinished), but this being what I do for a living, I hope I can be of some small assistance here.  I have a few contacts who may be of assistance in obtaining inexpensive bandwidth on high-availability servers - I shall contact them.

At this point, I would probably advise using standard Wordpress as a base - it is reasonably-stable, fairly-easily modified and added-to and well, I'm currently hacking it for several work-projects

[Tinkergirl]

I too like Wordpress, purely because it's what I'm used to.  But I don't know how appropriate it'd be for a museum page.  I'll have to look around and see what other people are making with it, as I've always only used it in its blog-configuration.  Capn, if you offer to keep an eye over this side of it (not leaving it entirely up to you, just aknowledging your knowledge here) will you be looking for some background images?  The ones on your linked site are surprisingly big.

Benefactors are always fun.  I've been a patron of the Steampunk arts in the past (and I have the engraved pocketwatch to prove it) but I'm not sure how that'd work yet.  Any ideas?

[CapnHarlock]

The ones on your linked site are surprisingly big.

I know   That is one of the things that desperately needs fixing. Purely a matter of a new unfamiliar camera, lack of time and outright laziness on my part

Tinkergirl: I will send you a message including  a couple sites that show how Wordpress can be made somewhat less "bloggy"

I would be honored to take part, with the caveat that my work schedule can vary between nothing-much and completely mad, at the drop of a hat.

[cthulhu_spawn]

im in, i thought it might be of interest, plus if my work is needed id love to be involved!

[sidecar_jon]

Great idea.. anything i can do just ask.

[Tinkergirl]

Ah.  Have I accidently forgotten to take a step back when they were asking for volunteers?  *chuckles*  Very well then.  I'll look into getting a site at least up and working, then we can worry about the look of the thing.  Wordpress it is.

[Alderman Simeon]

I should have mentioned that I think this is a superb idea, and that I hope to be able to contribute in some way.

[Adml. Etherington]

I must say, I'm quite taken with the marvelous circularity of a display of a past that never was in a museum that isn't!

[Hikaro Takayama]

I'm in... I may even be willing to make duplicates of my less expensive items (such as the Electrick Candleabra) and send them to whomever is organizing this thing.

Just let me know what you need... Finding sufficiently victorian looking furniture around my house to photograph my creations on shouldn't be too hard, since both my father and I are somewhat into antiques buying and restoring antique furniture (Dad got a nice Victorian era washstand for about $10 at an auction because none of the antique dealers who invariably show up at such events recognized what it really was under the horrid white paint job and the broken hinge on the left door.  After stripping the paint, giving it a nice antique finish and finding a matching hinge at the local hardware store, we had a beautiful piece of antique furniture where most just saw a heap of junk)....

[AE]

Might be an idea to designate a photographer to send items too, or perhaps create a basic info. sheet on how to photograph items for display, Including basic lighting etc.

[polyphemus]

And I am looking forward to the inevitable curatorial battles.
"Damme Sir! You have placed my swordcane in the Salon of Fine Apparel when it clearly belongs in the Hall of Weaponry!!"
As Pratchett said, "I can see we're going to get on like a house on fire. There may be no survivors."
By all means count me in.

[Tinkergirl]

I have an address for it now, and a Wordpress blog up and running ready to be harshly modified.

The Museum (work in progress name)

Please contact me for admin/editor/contributor logins.  As you can see, it's as empty and vanilla as you can imagine.

[ironwood]

Hi all I'm new around here and I think this is a great site.  Many people have a lot of fun and fantastic projects going on.

I thought I would post an idea on the name.  Instead of calling it a museum what about substituting the word Repository or Treasury.  Like The Historical Steampunk Repository or something along that line.

[cthulhu_spawn]

mainly because it will be a museum, and i really think it needs to be as clear as possible. those who may not understand the whimsical word of yore, might not "get it" plus, all of our work needs to be easily accessible. when i thought of this idea, i saw it as a museum, each piece as an exhibit.

[Dr. James Von Topolczan]

This sounds fun

I can offer up some web hosting with about 10gb storage, and 1tb bandwidth.

[Alderman Simeon]

mainly because it will be a museum, and i really think it needs to be as clear as possible. those who may not understand the whimsical word of yore, might not "get it" plus, all of our work needs to be easily accessible. when i thought of this idea, i saw it as a museum, each piece as an exhibit.

Also, I see the concept (and I hope that cthulhu_spawn will correct me) as intending to 'trick' visitors that the displays are real, so rather than showing ray-guns captured from Wells's Martian invaders, we have stuff like his lycanthropy exhibit, which a non-steampunk-oriented visitor might believe.

[Baron Verndorf]

mainly because it will be a museum, and i really think it needs to be as clear as possible. those who may not understand the whimsical word of yore, might not "get it" plus, all of our work needs to be easily accessible. when i thought of this idea, i saw it as a museum, each piece as an exhibit.

Also, I see the concept (and I hope that cthulhu_spawn will correct me) as intending to 'trick' visitors that the displays are real, so rather than showing ray-guns captured from Wells's Martian invaders, we have stuff like his lycanthropy exhibit, which a non-steampunk-oriented visitor might believe.

Although i do kind of like the ray gun idea... If anyone has read the League of Extrodinary Gentlemen comic books, i see it being much like the musium that is there home base through most of the second volume.

[Alderman Simeon]

Fine, but the intention is to appear not tongue-in-cheek at first sight, yes?

[cthulhu_spawn]

maybe not tongue in cheek, but i guess most people will be a little dubious to the authenticity of the pieces, but it has to be said, quite a few people think my work is real - and i for one know it doesnt look real, as its been pointed out by others! so i think we will be able to fool a lot of people regardless of the items placed within the museum. tinkergirl, how do you want to do this?

[Doctor When]

My vote is to make it look as authentic as possible... so what if a few Colonials think it's real! Just put a tiny disclaimer in somewhere...

*evil grin*

[rollerboi]

The line between reality and imagination is oft blurred, hinging upon the perceiver's relation to their world. Where does our responsibility lie in shaping that perception of reality?

I personally don't feel we have any. We should be free to follow the dictates of our own imagination, just as others should be free to follow their senses and continue to evaluate their own world.

But, I do think we should mix in elements of actual historical significance in the museum (or replicas thereof) - it would make the whole all that much more believable. >

[Adml. Etherington]

The line between reality and imagination is oft blurred, hinging upon the perceiver's relation to their world. Where does our responsibility lie in shaping that perception of reality?

I personally don't feel we have any. We should be free to follow the dictates of our own imagination, just as others should be free to follow their senses and continue to evaluate their own world.

But, I do think we should mix in elements of actual historical significance in the museum (or replicas thereof) - it would make the whole all that much more believable. >

Seconded! I would like to see the only blatant nod to the fictional nature of the museum be a mention of "a past that never was" somewhere. I'm all for us engaging in a little shaping of reality, especially the tenuous "reality" that exists on the internet.