Welcome back to our chat with Karianne Gottschalk, who was one of the ten contestants on Steampunk’d, from GSN, the Game Show Network. Steampunk’d is the first steampunk reality show to be broadcast on cable television.
Read part one here.
Airship Ambassador: Viewers of the show know that you were eliminated in the fifth episode, but let’s start at the very beginning of the process. How did you first hear about the show and the opportunity to actually be on it?
Karianne Gottschalk: I was asked to look into the show and I was apprehensive about it to be honest so I didn’t look further into it.
One of the casting directors called me and said she saw my work online and asked to be on the show.
Well, since they reached out, I believe everything happens for a reason, so I agreed to try out for the show.
AA: What was your interest or motivation to be on the show?
KG: Hahaha.. Well… I didn’t want to. I was scared shitless to be honest.
But what really motivated me to want to pursue the show is that I knew I’d be able to meet some pretty incredible people from this experience and possibly learn some awesome things as well as pass along what I know and have learned.
AA: Pop Magnet was the casting company chosen by Pink Sneakers, the production company, to find candidates for the show. What can you share with us about the interview process that you went through with them?
KG: …I have no clue which interview that was. There were so many so often. I’m an open book, so if there are any specific questions, I’m 100% free to answer!
In shorthand it was a lot of personal questions with family, art, steampunk, what would you do if you won 100,000$ etc.
AA: The final part of the selection process was a sample challenge to steampunk a common everyday item. What was your item and what did you do with it?
KG: I made this awesome steampunk pirate table!! I was so in love with this thing. I had no plans, no clue what I wanted to do with it, but it was the only item I focused on.
It was this basic black IKEA table that I spray-painted gold and antiqued the entire thing with extreme shadows, put some heavy duty lace around the underside of the table, cut out leather in a fun pattern bordering the table, dyed it crimson red and riveted it down and accented it with actual stingray leather In between the cowhide. The judges loved it too! They asked me how I got the metal on the top of the table to look that way… Surprise! Just gold spray paint that I was able to antique and shade in a specific way around the edges.
AA: Truth be told, I loved that table and it was something I wanted to take home with me! Once you were selected in the final ten to appear on the show, what preparations did you have to make before you left for Los Angeles? What were you leaving behind or had to put on hold while you were away for filming?
KG: There was a big project that I had an art grant for an event called lakes of fire. It’s a official burning man event held in Michigan that I attend every year. I was making an enormous leather, wood, and brass Edison Phonograph. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to complete it before I left and the event took place while I was gone.
As for preparations before I left for LA.. Well, none really, I took all the skills I had and kept working and learning as I do everyday before and after I left.
Looking back, I probably should’ve gotten a refill on my Xanax before I left. hahaha
AA: Without giving spoilers, what interesting things might viewers see in the episodes you were in?
KG: How crappy a lot of our tools were in the beginning lol. I’m still surprised some of us were able to pull of what we did given what we had to work with.
AA: What are some memorable moments you had during filming?
KG: So, I loved working with just about everyone. I’ve learned something and was inspired from 90% of the makers there..
But man! Definitely the most memorable moments It was getting into trouble with James and our humor. We were little shits who couldn’t stop laughing lol. I wish they showed everyone’s sense of humor. Tayliss also made me laugh everyday with her pretending she was a cat and knocking everyone water bottles off of counters and JW made me crack up all day!! That dude has a hilarious dry sense of humor..With His humor you have to give it a minute to either figure out or just ask him “did you seriously just say that?!” JW and James bantering almost made me pee myself from laughing so hard.
I could write a book on all the funny moments on the filming of that show.
AA: What are some factors that you had in common with the other contestants or set you apart? (creativity, design, organization, etc)
KG: I’ve said from the beginning everyone has their counter part. Eddie and JW, Tayliss and Tobias, Morgan and Beelzebub >__>
… I felt that my counter part was James and Charles. The three of us were on the same creative wave length when it came to design, we all work mainly in leather, we could all play off of each other designs, we all just clicked and supported the shit out of each other.. That went for almost all of us.
Let’s break here in talking with Karianne.
Join us for the conclusion as she shares a few more thoughts about being on the show.
Keep up to date with Karianne‘s latest work on her DeviantArt page.
Also, check out her exhibit page at The Steampunk Museum.
Airship Ambassador 