THE MINISTRY OF STEAMPUNK
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk.
Cyberpunk is a genre of science fiction that typically mixes a dystopian society with futuristic technology. In terms of the 'punk' timeline, Cyberpunk comes after Steampunk, Dieselpunk and Atompunk. Cyberpunk is very often set “in the near future” but it could be argued we are already living in it!
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It remains to be seen what will come after Cyberpunk.
​The term cyberpunk was first used by American author Bruce Bethke, in 1980, although the cyberpunk theme was being used in science fiction of the 60’s and 70’s.
​Familiar Cyberpunk stories
Well known examples of cyberpunk stories include Judge Dredd (2000 AD comic), William Gibson’s Neuromancer [this is the book cover image] and Ernest Cline's Ready Player One.
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Philip K Dick’s iconic book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? went on to be the iconic 1982 cyberpunk film Bladerunner, which is actually set in the 'future' of 2019! The equally cyberpunk sequel Bladerunner 2049 followed (in 2017).​​​
The aesthetics of Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk scenes typically feature dark streets, partly lit by neon lights and adverts, outside eating kiosks and rain - in fact it seems to rain all the time!
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There are normally elements of corporations dominating all areas of everyday life and there is a very strong “punk” aspect, with the “oppressed” humans fighting to undermine and destroy the corporations.
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A.I. in Cyberpunk
A.I. in the Cyberpunk world is highly advanced, sentient even, and many humans have acquired cybernetic implants of one sort or another.
Artificial life forms known as Replicants or Synthetics are commonplace and in Cyberpunk films they are normally very hard to distinguish from humans!​​
Cyberpunk clothing
In terms of Cyberpunk style, the Cyberpunk world is very cold and hard and this tends to be reflected in the dark clothes clothing people wear, although neon extras are not unusual.
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With so much A.I. around, in an attempt to avoid facial scanners and other surveillance by the corporations, many people wear high collars, hats even full face masks to hide their identity.
Urban setting are normally dirty and wet (did we mention it rains a lot in Cyberpunk films?) so people are often dressed to protect themselves as much from the elements as from the corporations.
But not all of the characters in Cyberpunk are running away from corporations. Some are working in bars, some are posing on street corners and some are seen only on glamorous billboards.
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And of course there are those at the top of the (usually corrupt) corporate ladder, living the high life in high rise apartments, wearing business attire or high fashions of the times. ​​
​​There's a cyberpunk look that's right for anyone, somewhere along the spectrum between low-life and high-tech.
A.I. images on this page
As noted above, Cyberpunk and A.I. are inextricably linked. Some of the images on this page have been created using A.I. engines (including ChatGPT and Adobe Firefly) whilst others have been human generated. We will be using A.I. generated concepts to help with our design process for some of the physical props we are making for our first MoS Cyperpunk event. We think it is only fitting that “The Machines” have a real presence in a cyberpunk world.