The DIY ethic refers to the ethic of self-sufficiency through completing tasks oneself as opposed to having others who are more experienced or able complete them for one's behalf. It promotes the idea that an ordinary person can learn to do more than he or she thought was possible. Naturally, a DIY attitude requires that the adherent attain the knowledge required to complete a given task. Without this, DIY is not an effective dogma. The term can refer to "doing" anything at all, including home improvements and repairs, first aid, and creative endeavors.
Central to the ethic is the empowerment of individuals and communities, encouraging the employment of alternative approaches when faced with bureaucratic or societal obstacles to achieving their objectives.
Rather than belittling or showing disdain for knowledge or expertise, DIY champions the average individual seeking knowledge and expertise for him/herself. Instead of using the services of others who have expertise, a DIY oriented person would seek out the knowledge for him/herself.
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In the punk subculture, the DIY ethic is tied to punk ideology and anticonsumerism, as a rejection of the need to purchase items or use existing systems or processes. Arguably since the 1970s;[1] emerging punk bands began to record their music, produce albums and merchandise, distribute their works and often performed basement shows in residential homes rather than at traditional venue, to avoid corporate sponsorship or to secure freedom in performance. Since many venues tend to shy away from more experimental music, houses and other private venues are often the only places at which these bands can play.
Riot Grrrl, the third wave of feminism movement, also undertook the core values of punk in terms of the DIY ethic by utilizing creative ways of communicating through zines and other projects. [2]
Adherents of the DIY punk ethic can also work collectively. For example, punk impresario David Ferguson's CD Presents was a DIY concert production, recording studio, and record label network.[3]
The DIY punk ethic also applies to simple everyday living, such as learning bicycle repair rather than taking a bike to a mechanic's shop, sewing/repairing/modifying clothing rather than buying new clothes, starting vegetable gardens, and reclaiming recyclable products by dumpster diving. Some educators also engage in DIY teaching techniques, sometimes referred to as Edupunk.
Having originated in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the form of the free festival movement, mutating through protest camps (thus incorporating elements of earlier radical tendencies such as the beat and peace movements) and into punk through bands such as Crass, DIY culture became something of a recognised movement in the 1990s in the UK, where the protest (the direct action) and party (the festival) converged. The prime example of this movement was the Exodus Collective. This development constituted a significant cross-pollination of pleasure and politics resembling the anti-disciplinary politics of the 1960s. During the 1990s, demonstrating the desire for an economy of mutual aid and co-operation, the commitment to the non-commodification of art, the appropriation of digital and communication technologies for free community purposes, and the commitment to alternative technologies such as biodiesel. From 1991–1997 the Conservative government cracked down on squatting, animal rights activists, greens, travellers, as well as the culture of raves, parties and dance culture.
In 1994, the United Kingdom passed the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 which contained several sections designed to curtail the growing free party and anti-road protest movements (sometimes embodied by ravers and travellers). It empowered police to arrest citizens who appeared to be preparing to hold a rave, waiting for a rave to start, or attending a rave.
DIY culture in the United States can be linked to many of the same philosophies of the Arts and Crafts movement of the 1900s, which sought to reconnect people with hands-on activities and the aesthetics associated with them. This was in direct opposition to the prevailing industrialization and modernization which was moving many aspects of the culture's aesthetics away from the hand-made artisan-created styles of the past and toward a mass-produced sleek modern vision of the future. DIY culture in the US arguably evolved from a simple cost-saving activity of the 1940s and 1950s to an increasingly radical political activity which stood against the increasingly visible trends of mass-production, conspicuous consumerism, waste, and the industrial corporate philosophy of planned obsolescence. DIY culture in the US is a current and evolving loose coalition of various individuals. There are many members of DIY culture with distinct and activist philosophies and goals, such as Betsy Greer who coined the term Craftivism in 2003. There are also many people with a staunch neutrality of political and social issues adopted by other members of the DIY movement. The largest group fall into an area somewhere between these two opposites, as varied in the spectrum of political and social philosophy as members of any large and thriving subculture.
In John Isaacson's book Do-It-Yourself Screenprinting, published by Microcosm Publishing, who gained fame by publishing and distributing a wide variety of zines, Jason Munn is quoted in a "screenprinter profile" as relating to the medium as follows:
I loved the idea of designing or illustrating something and doing the printing myself. Most of my time is spent in front of the computer so the printing is a great way to get my hands dirty again, so to speak.[4]
The need to connect with the physical world without interacting with computers or other modern technology , which in modern industrialized societies can go unfulfilled for days at a time, becomes a significant motivating force in leading people to embrace DIY culture.
Carla Sinclair, Editor in Chief of Craft attempts to describe the DIY community: "This DIY renaissance embraces crafts while pushing them beyond traditional boundaries, either through technology, irony, irreverence, and creative recycling, or by using innovating materials and processes...the new craft movement encourages people to make things themselves rather than buy what thousands of others already own. It provides new venues for crafters to show and sell their wares, and it offers original, unusual, alternative, and better-made goods to consumers who choose not to fall in step with mainstream commerce."[5] Ellen Lupton embellishes these thoughts in her book D.I.Y. Design It Yourself: "Around the world, people are making things themselves in order to save money, to customize goods to suit their exact needs and interests, and to feel less dependent on the corporations that manufacture and distribute most of the products and media we consume. On top of these practical and political motivations is the pleasure that comes from developing an idea, making it physically real, and sharing it with other people."[6] The articulation of both Isaacson and Lupton is that DIY activities and culture not only are unique in a modern world of consumerism, they give pleasure to its members simply due to the lack of corporate control or thoughts of profit and marketability which are often assigned to the act of creation outside the world of fine art.
These views are not universal or without variation, however. In Tsia Carson's introduction to her book 'Craftivity: 40 Projects for the DIY Lifestyle,' she muses that "the kind of agency one gains over their life by making their things is certainly powerful, heady stuff. But I can't honestly say that is why I make things. Do I make things for spiritual reasons? I wonder if I'm ready to speak of crafting as a form of meditation when I compare the crochet hats I make for my daughter's stuffed monkey to venerable practices like making Tibetan sand mandalas. We make things for two reasons: pleasure and because we can."[7] While some ascribe political or social context to their DIY activities, others ascribe personal or spiritual dimensions.
Matt Maranian, author of 'Pad: The Guide to Ultra-Living,' a guide to making your own home decor specifically intended not to look like it was purchased in any store, illustrates another aspect of DIY culture: "Pad is not a book for the helpless, the aimless, or the clueless, Pad is a book for the empowered, the inspired, and the creative. It's a book for people who forge their own trail, and who know how to make the very most of what they have at hand — or can find cheaply. Pad is the guerrilla approach to home decorating."[8] Matt articulates the sense of community and subculture present in DIY culture, perhaps even hinting at a kind of intellectual succession from a society deemed "helpless...aimless...clueless."
The first lines of Amy Spencer's 'DIY: The Rise of Lo-Fi Culture' sum up the juxtaposition of DIY culture's aspects by pointing out "the DIY movement is about using anything you can get your hands on to shape your own cultural entity: your own version of whatever you think is missing in mainstream culture. You can produce your own zine, record an album, publish your own book — the enduring appeal of this movement is that anyone can be an artist or creator. The point is to get involved."[9]
Technological developments in the last ten years have made it more possible for artists to circumvent professional studios and create high-quality works themselves. Developments in media software and the proliferation of high-speed Internet access have given artists of all ages and abilities from across the globe, the opportunity to make their own films, records, or other content, and distribute it over the web. Such works were usually displayed on a private homepage, and gained popularity through word-of-mouth recommendations or being attached to chain letters (known as viral distribution).
Sites like Newgrounds and DeviantArt allow users to post their art and receive community critique, while Instructables allows DIYers to exhibit their works in an instructional how-to format. It is becoming common for content creators to share and receive compensation for their work online. Musicians can distribute their wares over the internet, independently of commercial funding, using the same computer they used to record.
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