Ten years ago today — March 9, 2009 — I took two photographs which I named Cablepunk #1 and Cablepunk #2 when I posted them to Redbubble that evening.
The idea for something “cablepunk” had been floating in my brain since October 2008. I knew I was going to write a novel, but that was going to take some time. (Cinderella Cablepunk would appear February 2014.) So, I did what I had been doing at that point in my life: I picked up my Canon PowerShot A650 IS camera and took some pictures and, consequently, established cablepunk.
Cablepunk #1
Cablepunk #1 — nicknamed “Halo” — is my favorite of the two images, but it’s the one which has received little affection.
The image is of a blue Iomega external hard drive with its USB Y cable resting across it. You can see part of the plug in the bottom right of the pic.
What I like best about the photograph is the attention it brings to the two types of cable sleeves visible beneath the outer transparent casing.
The glow of the cable and the contrast between light and dark in the overexposure — caused by a simple desk lamp — gives the photo for me an ethereal feel, resulting in the Halo nickname. Also, I’m kind of reminded of the Halo Array.
Cablepunk #2
Cablepunk #2 — nicknamed “Snake” — is certainly the more popular of the two photos.
Shortly after it was posted to Redbubble, it was a featured photo on the site. This resulted in nineteen comments on the image. Likewise, when I posted the photos to 500px in 2015, #2 is the only one to have received a comment. Additionally, #2 got thirty-seven likes at 500px while #1, in contrast, got just five. So, there is something apparently more appealing about Cablepunk #2.
The image is of a Monster Cable brand AV cable for the original Xbox. I draped it across my old IBM keyboard for the photo. I’m currently amused I once used a white keyboard.
I like the black criss-cross pattern of the outermost casing of this cable, and the green beneath it has forever lent itself to the color branding of all things cablepunk for me.
Cablepunk was established on March 9, 2009 with the creation and posting of these two photographs. While cablepunk is still a fledgling offshoot of cyberpunk ten years on, the coming decade will no doubt see its growth as nostalgia for our cabled past grows.