Steampunk fuses art, technology and history, and necessitates multi-directional, divergent or opposite thinking. The art form’s complex nature is key to improving one’s approach to design. Albert Rothenberg, a psychiatrist who studied the creative process, called this approach “Janusian Thinking.” The concept is named after the Roman god Janus, who is depicted with two heads facing opposite directions and represents the middle ground between concrete and abstract dualities. Rothenberg discovered that great problem solvers, inventors and innovators focused on a problem in the present, while also looking to the past and future, all at the same time.

Steampunk art and design at its core fuses opposites of Past and Present/Future; Form and Function; Art and Science; Human and Machine; and Mechanical and Botanical.

Bruce Rosenbaum employs Janusian Thinking in all his art and designs and he will help to give you insights to use opposite thinking in your passions, work and life.