"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building,
modifying, or
repair
The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure, and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installa ...
ing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use
raw
Raw is an adjective usually describing:
* Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made
* Raw food, uncooked food
Raw or RAW may also refer to:
Computing and electronics
* .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...
and semi-raw materials and parts to produce, transform, or reconstruct material possessions, including those drawn from the natural environment (e.g., landscaping)". DIY
behavior can be triggered by various motivations previously categorized as
marketplace
A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...
motivations (economic benefits, lack of product availability, lack of product quality, need for customization), and
identity
Identity may refer to:
* Identity document
* Identity (philosophy)
* Identity (social science)
* Identity (mathematics)
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film
* ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...
enhancement (
craftsmanship Workmanship is a human attribute relating to knowledge and skill at performing a task. Workmanship is also a quality imparted to a product. The type of work may include the creation of handcrafts, art, writing, machinery and other products.
Workman ...
, empowerment, community seeking, uniqueness).
The term "do-it-yourself" has been associated with consumers since at least 1912 primarily in the domain of home improvement and maintenance activities. The phrase "do it yourself" had come into common usage (in standard English) by the 1950s,
in reference to the emergence of a trend of people undertaking
home improvement
The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...
and various other small craft and construction projects as both a creative-recreational and cost-saving activity.
Subsequently, the term DIY has taken on a broader meaning that covers a wide range of skill sets. DIY has been described as a "self-made-culture"; one of designing, creating, customizing and repairing items or things without any special training. DIY has grown to become a social concept with people sharing ideas, designs, techniques, methods and finished projects with one another either online or in person.
DIY can be seen as a cultural reaction in modern technological society to increasing
academic specialization In academic, specialization (or specialisation) may be a course of study or major at an academic institution or may refer to the field in which a specialist practices. In the case of an educator, academic specialization pertains to the subject th ...
and
economic specialization
The division of labour is the separation of the tasks in any economic system or organisation so that participants may specialise (specialisation). Individuals, organizations, and nations are endowed with, or acquire specialised capabilities, and ...
which brings people into contact with only a tiny focus area within the larger context, positioning DIY as a venue for
holistic
Holism () is the idea that various systems (e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as wholes, not merely as a collection of parts. The term "holism" was coined by Jan Smuts in his 1926 book '' Holism and Evolution''."holism, n." OED On ...
engagement. DIY ethic is the ethic of
self-sufficiency through completing tasks without the aid of a paid
expert. The DIY ethic promotes the idea that anyone is capable of performing a variety of tasks rather than relying on paid specialists.
History
Italian archaeologists have unearthed the ruins of a 6th-century BC
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
structure in southern Italy. The ruins appeared to come with detailed assembly instructions and are being called an "ancient
IKEA building". The structure was a
temple-like building discovered at
Torre Satriano, near the southern city of
Potenza, in
Basilicata. This region was recognized as a place where local people mingled with
Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
who had settled along the southern coast known as
Magna Graecia and in
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
from the 8th century BC onwards. Professor Christopher Smith, director of the
British School at Rome, said that the discovery was, "the clearest example yet found of mason's marks of the time. It looks as if someone was instructing others how to mass-produce components and put them together in this way." Much like our modern instruction booklets, various sections of the luxury building were inscribed with coded symbols showing how the pieces slotted together. The characteristics of these inscriptions indicate they date back to around the 6th century BC, which tallies with the architectural evidence suggested by the decoration. The building was built by Greek artisans coming from the
Sparta
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...
n colony of
Taranto
Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...
in Apulia.
In North America, there was a DIY magazine publishing niche in the first half of the twentieth century. Magazines such as ''
Popular Mechanics
''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation o ...
'' (founded in 1902) and ''
Mechanix Illustrated
''Mechanix Illustrated'' was an American printed magazine that was originally published by Fawcett Publications. Its title was founded in 1928 to compete against the older ''Popular Science'' and ''Popular Mechanics''. Billed as "The How-To-Do M ...
'' (founded in 1928) offered a way for readers to keep current on useful practical skills, techniques, tools, and materials. As many readers lived in rural or semi-rural regions, initially much of the material related to their needs on the farm or in a small town.
By the 1950s, DIY became common usage with the emergence of people undertaking home improvement projects, construction projects and smaller crafts. Artists began to fight against mass production and mass culture by claiming to be self-made. However, DIY practices also responded to geopolitical tensions, such as in the form of home-made Cold War nuclear fallout shelters, and the dark aesthetics and nihilist discourse in punk fanzines in the 1970s and onwards in the shadow of rising unemployment and social tensions. In the 1960s and 1970s, books and TV shows about the DIY movement and techniques on building and home decoration began appearing. By the 1990s, the DIY movement felt the impact of the digital age with the rise of the internet. With computers and the internet becoming mainstream, increased accessibility to the internet has led to more households undertaking DIY methods. Platforms, such as YouTube or Instagram, provide people the opportunity to share their creations and instruct others on how to replicate DIY techniques in their own home.
![Movable shelves built on discarded toy vehicle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Movable_shelves_built_on_discarded_toy_vehicle.jpg)
The DIY movement is a re-introduction (often to urban and suburban dwellers) of the old pattern of personal involvement and use of skills in the upkeep of a house or apartment, making clothes; maintenance of cars, computers, websites; or any material aspect of living. The philosopher
Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was an English writer, speaker and self-styled "philosophical entertainer", known for interpreting and popularising Japanese, Chinese and Indian traditions of Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu ...
(from the "
Houseboat Summit
The ''Vallejo'' is a houseboat in Sausalito, California, United States. It was originally a passenger ferry in Portland, Oregon, known as ''O&CRR Ferry No. 2'', in the late 19th century. After falling into disuse in Portland, it was transported t ...
" panel discussion in a 1967 edition of the ''
San Francisco Oracle
''The Oracle of the City of San Francisco'', also known as the ''San Francisco Oracle,'' was an underground newspaper published in 12 issues from September 20, 1966, to February 1968 in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of that city. Allen Cohen (p ...
'') reflected a growing sentiment:
In the 1970s, DIY spread through the North American population of college and recent-college-graduate age groups. In part, this movement involved the renovation of affordable, rundown older homes. But, it also related to various projects expressing the social and environmental vision of the 1960s and early 1970s. The young visionary
Stewart Brand, working with friends and family, and initially using the most basic of typesetting and page-layout tools, published the first edition of ''The
Whole Earth Catalog
The ''Whole Earth Catalog'' (WEC) was an American counterculture magazine and product catalog published by Stewart Brand several times a year between 1968 and 1972, and occasionally thereafter, until 1998. The magazine featured essays and articl ...
'' (subtitled ''Access to Tools'') in late 1968.
![California-dome-house](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/California-dome-house.jpg)
The first ''Catalog'', and its successors, used a broad definition of the term "tools." There were informational tools, such as books (often technical in nature), professional journals, courses and classes. There were specialized, designed items, such as
carpenters
Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters t ...
' and
masons' tools,
garden tools
A garden tool is any one of many tools made for gardening and landscaping, which overlap with the range of tools made for agriculture and horticulture. Garden tools can be divided into hand tools and power tools.
Hand tools
Today's garden tool ...
,
welding
Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by using high heat to melt the parts together and allowing them to cool, causing fusion. Welding is distinct from lower temperature techniques such as bra ...
equipment,
chainsaws, fiberglass materials and so on – even early personal computers. The designer,
J. Baldwin acted as editor and writing many of the reviews. The ''Catalogs publication both emerged from and spurred the great wave of experimentalism, convention-breaking, and do-it-yourself attitude of the late 1960s. Often copied, the ''Catalog'' appealed to a wide cross-section of people in North America and had a broad influence.
DIY home improvement books burgeoned in the 1970s, first created as collections of magazine articles. An early, extensive line of DIY how-to books were created by
Sunset Books
Sunset Books is a book publishing company that operates as a part of Southern Progress Corporation's Oxmoor House book publishing division. The Sunset Books division was created in 1946 when Sunset Magazine created a separate book division to p ...
, based upon previously published articles from their magazine, ''
Sunset'', based in California.
Time-Life,
Better Homes and Gardens, Balcony Garden Web and other publishers soon followed suit.
![Electronics World Sep 1959](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Electronics_World_Sep_1959.jpg)
In the mid-1990s, DIY
home-improvement
The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...
content began to find its way onto the
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web ...
. HouseNet was the earliest bulletin-board style site where users could share information. HomeTips.com, established in early 1995, was among the first web-based sites to deliver free extensive DIY home-improvement content created by expert authors.
Since the late 1990s, DIY has exploded on the Web through thousands of sites.
In the 1970s, when home video (
VCR
A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the recording. ...
s) came along, DIY instructors quickly grasped its potential for demonstrating processes by audio-visual means. In 1979, the
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
television series ''
This Old House
''This Old House'' is an American home improvement media brand with television shows, a magazine, and a websiteThisOldHouse.com. The brand is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The television series airs on the American television netw ...
'', starring
Bob Vila, premiered and spurred a DIY television revolution. The show was immensely popular, educating people on how to improve their living conditions (and the value of their house) without the expense of paying someone else to do (as much of) the work. In 1994, the
HGTV Network cable television channel was launched in the United States and Canada, followed in 1999 by the
DIY Network
Magnolia Network is an American basic cable network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Chip and Joanna Gaines. It broadcasts personality-based lifestyle programs related to topics such as home construction, renovation, and cuisine.
The channe ...
cable television channel. Both were launched to appeal to the growing percentage of North Americans interested in DIY topics, from
home improvement
The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...
to
knitting. Such channels have multiple shows revealing how to stretch one's budget to achieve professional-looking results (''
Design Cents'', ''
Design on a Dime
''Design on a Dime'' is a decorating television series that aired on HGTV from 2003-2013. In this long-running series, a design team demonstrates how problem areas can be revitalized on a budget of only $1,000. The show was based in Chicago, Ill. ...
'', etc.) while doing the work yourself. ''
Toolbelt Diva'' specifically caters to female DIYers.
Beyond magazines and television, the scope of home improvement DIY continues to grow online where most mainstream media outlets now have extensive DIY-focused informational websites such as ''
This Old House
''This Old House'' is an American home improvement media brand with television shows, a magazine, and a websiteThisOldHouse.com. The brand is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The television series airs on the American television netw ...
'',
Martha Stewart
Martha Helen Stewart (, ; born August 3, 1941) is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing pu ...
,
Hometalk
Hometalk is an online platform that enables people to improve their living spaces through DIY.
Founded in 2011 and based in New York City, Hometalk has over 17 million registered users and 23 million monthly visits. There are over 140,000 home im ...
, and the
DIY Network
Magnolia Network is an American basic cable network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Chip and Joanna Gaines. It broadcasts personality-based lifestyle programs related to topics such as home construction, renovation, and cuisine.
The channe ...
. These are often extensions of their magazine or television brand. The growth of independent online DIY resources is also spiking. The number of homeowners who blog about their experiences continues to grow, along with DIY websites from smaller organizations.
Fashion
![Mennonite Women Dressmaking Pennsylvania 1942](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Mennonite_Women_Dressmaking_Pennsylvania_1942.jpg)
DIY is prevalent amongst the fashion community, with ideas being shared on social media such as YouTube about clothing, jewellery, makeup and hair styles. Techniques include
distressing
Distressing (or weathered look) in the decorative arts is the activity of making a piece of furniture or object appear aged and older, giving it a "weathered look". There are many methods to produce an appearance of age and wear. Distressing is ...
jeans, bleaching jeans, redesigning an old shirt, and studding denim.
The concept of DIY has also emerged within the art and design community. The terms,
Hacktivist
In Internet activism, hacktivism, or hactivism (a portmanteau of '' hack'' and '' activism''), is the use of computer-based techniques such as hacking as a form of civil disobedience to promote a political agenda or social change. With roots in h ...
, Craftivist, or maker have been used to describe creatives working within a DIY framework (Busch). Otto von Busch describes ''Hacktivism' as "
ncludingthe participant in the process of making,
o give
O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), pl ...
rise to new attitudes within the ‘maker’ or collaborator" (Busch 49)
. Busch suggests that by engaging in participatory forms of fashion, consumers are able step away from the idea of "mass-homogenized 'Mc-Fashion'
(Lee 2003)" as fashion Hacktivism allows consumers to play a more active role in engaging with the clothes they wear (Busch 32).
Subculture
![Vehicle at Maker Faire, San Mateo, 2016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Vehicle_at_Maker_Faire%2C_San_Mateo%2C_2016.jpg)
DIY as a subculture was brought forward by the
punk movement
The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression, visual art, dance, literature, and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual freedo ...
of the 1970s. Instead of traditional means of bands reaching their audiences through large music labels, bands began recording, manufacturing albums and merchandise, booking their own tours, and creating opportunities for smaller bands to get wider recognition and gain cult status through repetitive low-cost DIY touring. The burgeoning
zine
A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very s ...
movement took up coverage of and promotion of the
underground
Underground most commonly refers to:
* Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth
Underground may also refer to:
Places
* The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston
* The Underground ...
punk scenes, and significantly altered the way fans interacted with musicians. Zines quickly branched off from being hand-made music magazines to become more personal; they quickly became one of the youth culture's gateways to DIY culture. This led to tutorial zines showing others how to make their own shirts, posters, zines, books, food, etc.
The terms "DIY" and "do-it-yourself" are also used to describe:
![Zines-fromlondonsymp07](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Zines-fromlondonsymp07.jpg)
*
Self-publishing books,
zines
A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very smal ...
, and
alternative comics
Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which ...
* Bands or solo artists releasing their music on self-funded record labels.
* Trading of mixtapes as part of
cassette culture
* Homemade stuffs based on the principles of "
Recycle
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
,
Reuse &
Reduce
Reduction, reduced, or reduce may refer to:
Science and technology Chemistry
* Reduction (chemistry), part of a reduction-oxidation (redox) reaction in which atoms have their oxidation state changed.
** Organic redox reaction, a redox react ...
" (the
3R's). A common term in many
Environmental movement
The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists a ...
s encouraging people to reuse old, used objects found in their homes and to recycle simple materials like paper.
*
Crafts
A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...
such as
knitting,
crochet,
sewing
Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fab ...
,
handmade jewelry
Handmade jewelry (or handmade jewellery or handcrafted jewellery) is jewelry which has been assembled and formed by hand rather than through the use of machines.
The oldest handmade jewelry trademark is in Florence, Italy.
Definition (U.S.)
Ac ...
,
ceramics
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
* Designing business cards, invitations and so on
* Creating
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
or
indie
Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Gaming
*Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies
*Indie game, any game (board ...
musical merchandise through the use of recycling
thrift store or discarded materials, usually decorated with art applied by
silk screen
Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open me ...
.
*
Independent game development and
game modding
Video game modding (short for "modification") is the process of alteration by players or fans of one or more aspects of a video game, such as how it looks or behaves, and is a sub-discipline of general modding. Mods may range from small changes a ...
* Contemporary
roller derby
* Skateparks built by skateboarders without paid professional assistance
* Building musical electronic circuits such as the
Atari Punk Console
Forrest M. Mims III is an American amateur scientist,['Country Scientist' starting co ...](_blank)
and create
circuit bending noise machines from old children toys.
* Modifying ("modding") common products to allow extended or unintended uses, commonly referred to by the internet term, "life-hacking". Related to
jury-rigging
In maritime transport terms, and most commonly in sailing, jury-rigged is an adjective, a noun, and a verb. It can describe the actions of temporary makeshift running repairs made with only the tools and materials on board; and the subsequent r ...
i.e. sloppy/ unlikely mods
*
Hobby
A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing oth ...
electronics or in
amateur radio equipment producing.
* DIY science: using
open-source hardware to make
scientific equipment
A scientific instrument is a device or tool used for scientific purposes, including the study of both natural phenomena and theoretical research.
History
Historically, the definition of a scientific instrument has varied, based on usage, laws, an ...
to conduct
citizen science or simply low-cost traditional science
** Using low-cost
single-board computers, such as
Arduino
Arduino () is an open-source hardware and software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. Its hardware products are licensed under ...
and
Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi () is a series of small single-board computers (SBCs) developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in association with Broadcom. The Raspberry Pi project originally leaned towards the promotion of teaching basic ...
, as
embedded system
An embedded system is a computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is ''embedded'' ...
s with various applications
**
DIY bio
Music
Much contemporary DIY music has its origins in the late 1970s
punk rock subculture.
It developed as a way to circumnavigate the corporate mainstream
music industry.
By controlling the entire production and distribution chain, DIY bands attempt to develop a closer relationship between artists and fans. The DIY ethic gives total control over the final product without need to compromise with record major labels.
[
According to the punk aesthetic, one can express oneself and produce moving and serious works with limited means. Arguably, the earliest example of this attitude was the punk music scene of the 1970s.
Riot grrrl, associated with ]third-wave feminism
Third-wave feminism is an iteration of the feminist movement that began in the early 1990s, prominent in the decades prior to the fourth wave. Grounded in the civil-rights advances of the second wave, Gen X and early Gen Y generations third-w ...
, also adopted the core values of the DIY punk ethic by leveraging creative ways of communication through zines
A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very smal ...
and other projects.
Adherents of the DIY punk ethic also work collectively. For example, punk impresario David Ferguson's CD Presents
David Ferguson was an American international outsider-culture impresario, activist, music producer and concert promoter. Over his career, most of which has been spent on the West Coast, he worked with musical acts such as the Avengers, John L ...
was a DIY concert production
Concert production is the act of putting on a concert or a live music performance. As an individual's role, this refers to the person coordinating all the staff and equipment necessary to make a concert happen;
they monitor the schedule, pay the ...
, recording studio, and record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
network.
Film
A form of independent filmmaking characterized by low budgets, skeleton crews, and simple props using whatever is available.
By country
As a means of adaptation during the Cuban Special Period
The Special Period ( es, Período especial, link=no), officially the Special Period in the Time of Peace (), was an extended period of economic crisis in Cuba that began in 1991 primarily due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and, by ext ...
times of economic crisis, ''resolver'' ("to resolve") became an important part of Cuban culture. ''Resolver'' refers to a spirit of resourcefulness and do-it-yourself problem solving.
India
Jugaad is a colloquial Hindi
Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
, Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
, Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people
*Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece
See also
*
* ...
, Punjabi, Sindhi and word, which refers to a non-conventional, frugal innovation, often termed a "hack
Hack may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* ''Hack'' (Unix video game), a 1984 roguelike video game
* ''.hack'' (video game series), a series of video games by the multimedia franchise ''.hack''
Music
* ''Hack'' (album), a 199 ...
". It could also refer to an innovative fix or a simple work-around, a solution that bends the rules, or a resource that can be used in such a way. It is also often used to signify creativity: to make existing things work, or to create new things with meager resources.
United States
Rasquache is the English form of the Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
term ''rascuache'', originally with a negative connotation in Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
it was recontextualized by the Mexican and Chicano arts movement to describe a specific artistic aesthetic, ''Rasquachismo'', suited to overcoming material and professional limitations faced by artists in the movement.
See also
* Bricolage
In the arts, ''bricolage'' ( French for "DIY" or "do-it-yourself projects") is the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available, or a work constructed using mixed media.
The term ''bricolage'' ...
* Circuit bending
* Edupunk
Edupunk is a do it yourself (DIY) attitude to teaching and learning practices. Tom Kuntz described edupunk as "an approach to teaching that avoids mainstream tools like PowerPoint and Blackboard, and instead aims to bring the rebellious attitude ...
* Hackerspace
A hackerspace (also referred to as a hacklab, hackspace, or makerspace) is a community-operated, often "not for profit" ( 501(c)(3) in the United States), workspace where people with common interests, such as computers, machining, technology, ...
* Handyman
A handyman, also known as a fixer, handyperson or handyworker, is a person skilled at a wide range of repairs, typically around the home. These tasks include trade skills, repair work, maintenance work, are both interior and exterior, and are so ...
* Instructables
Instructables is a website specializing in user-created and uploaded do-it-yourself projects, currently owned by Autodesk. It was created by Eric Wilhelm and Saul Griffith and launched in August 2005. Instructables is dedicated to step-by-step ...
* Junk box
* Kludge
A kludge or kluge () is a workaround or quick-and-dirty solution that is clumsy, inelegant, inefficient, difficult to extend and hard to maintain. This term is used in diverse fields such as computer science, aerospace engineering, Internet sla ...
* Maker culture
* Number 8 wire
Number 8 wire is a gauge of wire on the British Standard Wire Gauge that has entered into the cultural lexicon of New Zealand.
Use for farm fencing
Early farm fences in New Zealand were generally used to protect crops, gardens, and orchards fr ...
* Open Design
The open-design movement involves the development of physical products, machines and systems through use of publicly shared design information. This includes the making of both free and open-source software (FOSS) as well as open-source hardwar ...
* Prosumer
* Ready-to-assemble furniture
Ready-to-assemble furniture (RTA), also known as knock-down furniture (KD), flat pack furniture, or kit furniture, is a form of furniture that requires customer assembly. The separate components are packed for sale in cartons which also contain ...
* 3D printing
3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer co ...
* How-to
The Linux Documentation Project (LDP) is a dormant an all-volunteer project that maintains a large collection of GNU and Linux-related documentation and publishes the collection online. It began as a way for hackers to share their documentation ...
Subculture links
* Punk subculture
* Basement show
A basement show is a musical performance, often of the punk rock or hardcore punk variety, that is held in the basement of a residential home, rather than at a traditional venue. These are also sometimes referred to as "house shows" as they ca ...
* Bricolage
In the arts, ''bricolage'' ( French for "DIY" or "do-it-yourself projects") is the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available, or a work constructed using mixed media.
The term ''bricolage'' ...
* Cassette culture
* Circuit bending
* '' D.I.Y. or Die: How to Survive as an Independent Artist''
* Edupunk
Edupunk is a do it yourself (DIY) attitude to teaching and learning practices. Tom Kuntz described edupunk as "an approach to teaching that avoids mainstream tools like PowerPoint and Blackboard, and instead aims to bring the rebellious attitude ...
* Guerrilla gig
A guerrilla gig is a type of concert performed in a non-traditional setting or arranged in an unusual fashion. It became associated with punk rock, and noise rock bands in UK and the United States during the early to mid-2000s. Bands who perform ...
* Hackerspace
A hackerspace (also referred to as a hacklab, hackspace, or makerspace) is a community-operated, often "not for profit" ( 501(c)(3) in the United States), workspace where people with common interests, such as computers, machining, technology, ...
* Homebuilt aircraft
Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...
* Individualism
Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-reli ...
* Infoshops
Infoshops are places in which people can access anarchist or autonomist ideas. They are often stand-alone projects, or can form part of a larger radical bookshop, archive, self-managed social centre or community centre. Typically, infoshops offer ...
* Maker culture
* Mumblecore
Mumblecore is a subgenre of independent filmHoberman, J. (August 14, 2007).It's Mumblecore!. ''The Village Voice''. Retrieved on July 27, 2008.Lim, Dennis (August 19, 2007)Mumblecore – The New Talkies: Generation DIY ''The New York Times''. Ret ...
* Off-the-grid
Off-the-grid or off-grid is a characteristic of buildings and a lifestyle designed in an independent manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. The term "off-the-grid" traditionally refers to not being connected to the electrical gr ...
* Remodernist Film
Remodernist film developed in the United States and the United Kingdom in the early 21st century with ideas related to those of the international art movement Stuckism and its manifesto, Remodernism. Key figures are Jesse Richards and Peter Rina ...
* Self-publishing
* Underground comix
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...
* White box (computer hardware)
In computer hardware, a white box is a personal computer or server without a well-known brand name.
The term is usually applied to systems assembled by small system integrators and to homebuilt computer systems assembled by end users from part ...
* Solarpunk
Solarpunk is a literary and artistic movement that envisions and works toward actualizing a sustainable future interconnected with nature and community. The "solar" represents solar energy as a renewable energy source and an optimistic vision of t ...
References
Further reading
* Thomas Bey William Bailey, ''Unofficial Release: Self-Released And Handmade Audio In Post-Industrial Society'', Belsona Books Ltd., 2012
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* Smith, G. and Gillett, A. G., (2015)
"Creativities, innovation, and networks in garage punk rock: A case study of the Eruptörs"
''Artivate: A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts'', 9-24
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{{environmental humanities
Building
Handbooks and manuals
Skills
Cassette culture 1970s–1990s