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Do it yourself

"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi-raw materials and parts to produce, transform, or reconstruct material possessions, including those drawn from the natural environment (e.g., landscaping)".[1] DIY behavior can be triggered by various motivations previously categorized as marketplace motivations (economic benefits, lack of product availability, lack of product quality, need for customization), and identity enhancement (craftsmanship, empowerment, community seeking, uniqueness).[2]

"DIY" redirects here. For other uses, see DIY (disambiguation).

The term "do-it-yourself" has been associated with consumers since at least 1912 primarily in the domain of home improvement and maintenance activities.[3] The phrase "do it yourself" had come into common usage (in standard English) by the 1950s,[4] in reference to the emergence of a trend of people undertaking home improvement 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 and economic specialization which brings people into contact with only a tiny focus area within the larger context, positioning DIY as a venue for holistic 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.

books, zines, doujin, and alternative comics

Self-publishing

Bands or solo artists releasing their music on self-funded record labels.

Trading of mixtapes as part of

cassette culture

The international network which circumvents galleries and official art institutions by creating a precursor to social networking.

mail art

Homemade stuffs based on the principles of ", Reuse & Reduce" (the 3R's). A common term in many Environmental movements encouraging people to reuse old, used objects found in their homes and to recycle simple materials like paper.

Recycle

Designing business cards, invitations and so on

Creating or indie musical merchandise through the use of recycling thrift store or discarded materials, usually decorated with art applied by silk screen.[14]

punk

and game modding

Independent game development

Contemporary

roller derby

Skateparks built by skateboarders without paid professional assistance

Building musical electronic circuits such as the and create circuit bending noise machines from old children toys.

Atari Punk Console

Modifying ("modding") common products to allow extended or unintended uses, commonly referred to by the internet term, "life-hacking". Related to i.e. sloppy/ unlikely mods

jury-rigging

electronics or in amateur radio equipment producing.

Hobby

[15]

Bailey, Thomas Bey William (2012) Unofficial Release: Self-Released And Handmade Audio In Post-Industrial Society, Belsona Books.

Brass, Elaine; Sophie Poklewski Koziell (1997). Denise Searle (ed.). Gathering Force: DIY Culture – Radical Action for Those Tired of Waiting. London: Big Issue.  1-899419-01-2.

ISBN

journal

DIY, Alternative Cultures and Society

(14 April 2010). "D.I.Y. Culture". The New York Times Abroad. Retrieved 4 August 2011.

Kimmelman, Michael

McKay, George (1996). Senseless Acts of Beauty: Cultures of Resistance since the Sixties. London: Verso.  1-85984-028-0.

ISBN

McKay, George, ed. (1998). DiY Culture: Party & Protest in Nineties Britain. New York: Verso.  1-85984-260-7.

ISBN

McKay, George. (2023). DIY, Alternative Cultures and Society online first.

'Was punk DIY? Is DIY punk? Interrogating the DIY/punk nexus, with particular reference to the early UK punk scene, c. 1976-1984.'

Smith, G. and Gillett, A. G., (2015). . Artivate: A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts, 9-24

"Creativities, innovation, and networks in garage punk rock: A case study of the Eruptörs"

St John, Graham, ed. (2001). FreeNRG: Notes From the Edge of the Dancefloor. Altona: Commonground.  1-86335-084-5.

ISBN

Wall, Derek (1999). Earth First and the Anti-Roads Movement: Radical Environmentalism and Comparative Social Movements. London: Routledge.  0-415-19064-9.

ISBN

by Paul Atkinson, Journal of Design History, March 2006

Do It Yourself: Democracy and Design