The basics of DiY and its prominence in my project
DiY stands for “Do It Yourself”, which is a simple idea to understand. The act of Doing It Yourself has been around for longer than I can reliably cite, DiY in the current age is different. There are two active parts of DiY, the act and the political ideology.
DiY politics
It’s important to understand the ideology before delving into the details, and despite not being actively political myself, it’s an important part of this practice which has practices similar to mine.
Originating in the ’60s, DiY culture is a UK movement of counterculture. Counterculture refers to groups that operate outside of mainstream society, often showing alternative ways of living, thinking and doing. Due to this, DiY culture is often against mainstream society and is seen as progressive, creative and free. The ethics of DiY culture concern taking responsibility for your life and the world around you through positive practical direct action.
In summary, DiY is a practical form of protesting and changing your own daily life. If you wish to live more sustainably, you do it yourself. If you wish to live away from politics, you do it yourself.
DiY “arts and crafts”
Despite this political undertone of DiY, there’s a huge practical element still, and along with this, many DiY practitioners do not dabble in politics. There are many subcategories of DiY of how to do things yourself. Many of them are affordable and sustainable, along with mixing mediums. For example, Upcycling and recycling, DiY fashion/repairs and DiY music.
DiY music essentially means making all parts of the music yourself (something I relate to), normally in a home studio or your bedroom (also relatable). But along with being something I’ve practised in, I normally prefer it. I enjoy collaborating with people, but creating music/sound in a different studio space is quite difficult for me.
Another subculture I have been looking at is DiY synthesisers. It seems there’s been quite a boom of DiY synth makers on the market, probably because people are starting to realise it’s not that difficult and much cheaper to build it yourself (I’m not saying it’s easy to design synthesisers yourself, and everyone should do it though). But this subculture is very open and welcoming, and I have found many resources on how to make DIY synths and forums that have helped me.
How this is seen in my work
As stated before, I have dabbled (unknowingly) in DiY, and after looking at it further, seems to be a critical context that could benefit my work. Along with this, sustainability is seen often in DiY and can be used to evaluate my project later. I just need to find some DIY practitioners and better resources that can be used to evaluate my work.
Sources
https://www.permanentculturenow.com/introduction-to-diy-counterculture/