What is DIY craft?

Part One...

This is probably a bit back to front being nearly five years into the UK DIY project, and a year into the blog, but it seemed long overdue to share the start of the UK DIY research. The real start was way back here, but the research report starts like this...

DEFINING DIY
What is DIY Crafts? There is no straight answer, just as there is no clear definition of what craft in general is – or art or design, and where the boundaries of each blur. However it is possible to build up a picture of what DIY crafts looks like through characteristics present across the depth and breadth of the movement and through statements around DIY craft and its ethics.
• ...this is craft or crafting, just not craft as we know it. It is slightly reminiscent of the 1970s craft movement, but this is a remix; it is witty and it is often nostalgically ironic and it offers biting sarcasm with regard to the presumed role of domestic creativity… (1)
• DIY is a mash-up of the post-industrial enterprise economy and good old unreconstructed communism (2)
• The DIY ethic is based on the power of creative re-use and re-appropriation (3)
• Using ‘DIY Culture’ would lead me into street-cool avant-garde punk territory(4)
• “accomplishment without professional help… people providing for themselves services which they could otherwise be expected to pay a professional to do”(5)
• DIY culture refers to a wide range of grassroots political activism…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…these subcultures blur the lines between creator and consumer by constructing a social network that ties users and makers close together(6).
• These new crafters are mostly young women, in their 20’s and 30’s, who delight in combining retro images with traditional craft techniques to produce practical items with an off-kilter, humorous streak. There is no right or wrong. If anything, the movement is defined by its eclecticism(7).
• Refers to a form of domestic creativity that emerges from a DIY ethos that seeks to confront mass market consumerism and the homogenisation of culture as a result if the aggressive expansion of big box retailers. This creative handiwork is often nostalgically ironic, concerned with style, irony and occasionally kitsch; often contains wit and humour; it is about choice. It does not seek validation within traditional art methodology rather it is motivated by a desire for creative and economic freedom(8).

1 Press, M DIY Craft on www.craftresearch.blogpsot.com 28 April 2006
2 Press, M Crafters of the World Unite on www.craftresearch.blogpsot.com 9 May 2006
3 Press, M quoting Galloway, A in Crafters of the World Unite on www.craftresearch.blogpsot.com 9 May 2006
4 Burgess, J Defining Vernacular Creativity on www.creativitymachine.net 10 May 2006
5 Shove, E & Watson, M 2005 pp2-3
6 Wikipedia
7 http://leedscraftmafia.co.uk/2007/03/15/craft-congress-pittsburgh-310307-010107/ 15.03.07
8 Stevens, DIY Craft in Redefining Craft for the 21st Century CODA Keynote 2006

Digital craft

When the UK DIY research began in 2006 social media as such hadn't been invented. Myspace and Linked In existed but were still fairly unknown, and more recent competitors hadn't yet broken away and done their own thing.

Use of the internet in the research focussed on sourcing materials and enabling cottage industries operating on a global scale.

Now crafters across the globe have their etsy store on facebook; share and critique work on flickr; and post, disect, worry, promote, share, observe and so much more at hundreds of tweets per minute on twitter.

And now, breaking all boundaries, twitter itself has been turned into a loom of sorts through Tweave.

Tweave, a UK based project born in Birmingham, invites tweeps (twitter people) to share images and hashtags of a particular object, creating a thread of information about a particular product. All the threads become woven together via Tweave which acts as a sort of database or fabric of the whole series of to-ings and fro-ings.

A great use of social media. Slightly hard to explain, better just to try using it...
www.tweave.co.uk

DIY Christmas Craftivism

Members of the DIY craft community may, as I do, struggle with the commercialism and wastefulness of our modern day Christmas. I'm personally committed to a DIY, low impact, green Christmas with the emphasis on handmade, with as less waste as possible.

Here in Worcester I helped to organise our Vintage Christmas Bazaar last Saturday (12th December) which highlighted reusing, recycling through vintage clothing and gifts, as well as buying handmade gifts from independent DIY crafty sellers.

There are plenty of other craft fairs on this weekend around the country, including The Handmade Market in Birmingham, the London Designer Makers Christmas Sale, both on 19th December. Check listings in your area and you could buy last minute, unique gifts that support DIY crafters and independent designer-makers.

I think as DIY Crafters it's our duty to counter balance the usual Christmas commercialism with homemade goodness! It be great to hear comments from other DIY crafters about their plans for Christmas...

Make Craft Count

The Crafts Council is running an initiative to urge people to sign up and show their support for contemporary craft.

The government’s statistics indicate that '17% of the population took part in a craft activity in 2008/09'. The idea is to show what this looks like in 'real support' so that everyone can see that craft is highly valued. Therefore, they're asking craft supporters to sign up to their website and leave a comment on why craft is important to them. In the next few months they will post the names of all signatories to demonstrate the great support for craft across the UK.

To sign up go to www.craftscouncil.org.uk/craftmatters

Some more interesting stats from the Crafts Council website:

'There are 35,000 contemporary craft makers in the UK, producing a combined turnover of £1bn each year.¹ As well as producing their own work, these makers contribute to many businesses and industries including film, theatre, dance, fashion and product design.'

'Over 1 million people visited Crafts Council exhibitions, fairs and events in 2008/09.'

Should be interesting to see the results!

¹ Crafts Council 2004 ‘Making it in the 21st Century’; Craft Northern Ireland (2006) ‘A Future in the Making: Socio-economic survey of the craft sector in Northern Ireland’; Scottish Arts Council (2002) ‘Craft Businesses in Scotland: A Study’.

Home Sweet Home

Hi, this is your Scottish representative reporting for duty! I thought you might like to hear about some exciting new things happening around here.

The girls who dreamt up Made in the Shade, a boutique shopping event held in Glasgow featuring design, neo-craft and vintage lifestyle, have been rather busy lately. They are getting ready to open up real bricks-and-mortar shop! Allow me to introduce to you... The Maisonette.

It's a permanent retail space within the newly re-opened upper floor of De Courcy's Arcade, which is in Cresswell Lane, a little cobbled lane, (behind Byres Road in Glasgow's West End), one stone's throw away from the Hillhead subway.

The aim is to showcase work by directional Scottish designers, makers and artists and to introduce the work of creatives from across the UK and beyond. Essentially, this vintage-styled 'little house' will be the place for discerning shoppers to find great vintage and handmade goods.

Here are a few words from Carrie Maclennan, Co-owner of The Maisonette: "The Maisonette aims to provide customers with a permanent retail outlet that specialises in handmade, ethically produced products. The designers who work with us at The Maisonette are not anonymous. We want our customers to get to know us and to get to know the people who make the beautiful objects they buy. For the designers and makers, The Maisonette is a unique space that actively promotes them and helps grow and develop their businesses in all sorts of ways."



They also have a dedicated gallery space: "The Tiny Gallery really is tiny! We reckon it must be the smallest gallery space in the city. We're opening our Tiny Gallery with a Post-It installation and zine launch by Scottish illustrator and maker, Jennifer Nicolson. Just one visitor can view the exhibit at a time," explains Carrie.

There is currently a project running in conjunction with Central Station, inviting proposals from Central Station members interested in holding a two-week exhibition in the Tiny Gallery in February 2010. Central Station is a new online community and showcase for creatives, including artists, designers and film-makers. For more information on this project, see here.

As if that weren't enough, they also plan to have a calendar of in-store social events, including a number of alternative style events coinciding with Glasgow Fashion Week between the 11th and 14th of November.

The Made in the Shade gals have also been running a series on their blog showing little sneak peeks at The Maisonette as preparations for opening day get underway. See posts entitled 'The Maisonette Peep Show' for your viewing pleasure.

So if that has whetted your appetite for all things crafty, get down to their launch day on Friday 30th October 2009. Doors open at 10am!

Weird science

The original UK DIY craft research threw up some interesting links between subversive craft and science. Bear with me this was at the start of 2006. At the time it was big news to me. Now I know there are an army of crafting geeks out there (I mean that in a good way). Though I am still continually amazed at how many science based crafters there are, and yet more so by the number of scientists I meet equally as fascinated with craft. (I meet a disproportionately large number of scientists compared to most, it's true.)

So goes a paragraph from the research... "DIY craft crosses over with science, not just in technological ways, but also through biology, botany and molecular structures. On its most basic level flora and fauna have always been influential reference points for crafts and DIY is no exception, though there is often a preference for stylised motifs rather than pure representation. On a more innovative level however, it is the structural composition of forms which have been picked up and developed"

It continues, moving on to the likes of hyperbolic planes and Crocheted Coral reef project (did you know 3 of that project's main makers are in the UK?) and the work of Dr Hinke Osinga at Bristol University. Her work uses crochet and knitting to explore the ‘Lorenz Manifold’, a 3d manifestation of one of the theories demonstrating the mathematics behind chaos theory.

The links between science and craft are well known in the craft world and go way back beyond contemporary subversive craft of course; but to see them becoming increasingly explored in the science world gives DIY craft a whole new way to be verified and recognised. So it is that this year's Manchester Science Festival 2009 is making the most of these connections, using craft as an accessible way of communicating ideas about science.

Wherever you are in the UK, or beyond... you can join the Festival's Microbe Knitting. Download the pattern and find out more about yakky colds about to spring on us once more this winter.

For those near the area here are some of the events you can attend in late October:

* Bags of fun; upcycling every day waste paper into bags and beads (run by Ministry of Craft)
* Eco-kites; creating kites from plastic bags and cane (run by Ministry of Craft)
* Tape it Up; making tote bags from household materials without a stitch (Ministry of Craft)

* Future Textiles; Bolton University textile scientists share their expertise about protective cloths (run by Bolton University and Urbis)
* Junk jumpers; turn old woolies into felt accessories (Ministry of Craft)
* The Big Microbe Knit; knitting micro-organisms such as swine flu, salmonella and the common cold (run by Touchstones Rochdale)
* Creative Connections; Photography, textiles and jewellery exhibition by Materials Science students and makers inspired by their work

Image: crocheted virus, Ildiko Szabo & Inga Hamilton, UK DIY Exhibition 2009

DIY Craft = Confidence!

This Saturday will be the 2nd Vintage & DIY Craft Fair I've helped to organise in Worcester, where I live. The first was back in July and was a huge success as well as a steep learning curve! I wanted to write about it here to look at how the world of DIY craft really thrives and survives on group activity and collaboration, and how having a bit of DIY spirit combined with DIY Craft has really boosted my/our confidence, and given us a real sense of achievement.

I joined forces with some local Worcester ladies who had recently formed WAVE - Worcester Arts & Vintage Events and were organising their first Vintage & Craft Fair. I was able to offer my services as an arts organiser (having organised many exhibitions and worked in a gallery space before) and using my work as a writer and blogger to help with promotion, write press releases etc.

Worcester is a nice enough place to live but it was just lacking the kind of events that we wanted to attend, in particular alternative craft fairs, DIY Craft meet ups etc. In true DIY spirit we set about changing that through WAVE and with only one event under our belts, and a Rebel Knitting Club formed, we have established our Vintage & Craft Fair as one of Worcester's most talked about and highly anticipated events. It's only our 2nd Fair on Saturday and yet word has travelled and we've had people from as far afield as London and Oxford wanting to take part as stall holders, which is great! We get to support local Worcester, independent Businesses and DIY Crafters as well as bringing new people to Worcester.

The haptic need

"I sew because I have to-it is just that simple. After a long day hunched over my computer dealing with the vagaries of English spelling, clumsy syntax and wayward grammar, not to mention computer crashes and arbitrary and demanding clients, I look forward to time spent with my needle and thread, the tactile delight of cloth in my hands and the pleasure of working with color and form-nothing is more life-sustaining and yes, it has to be said-more therapeutic."

Sound familiar? Those are the words of Marilyn Neuhart, creater of the dolls above, who couldn't have more perfectly illustrated the need for something tactile to fulfill the need for activity which is haptic (the sense of touch) in a digital world.

With that in mind, here's the first excerpt from the UK DIY research which kick started this whole shebang around two and a half years ago. This is from a section on anti-consumerism and the individual

One differentiation between DIY craft and the 1970s handmade movement is that it isn’t just about rediscovering craft techniques, or working for political causes, or joining communities. DIY crafters are also motivated by personal gain – not necessarily financial, but still a personal, sometimes self-indulgent reward. A feeling of achievement, accomplishment, control over their life and other priorities / pressures, of creative, intellectual or kinaesthetic satisfaction. It can be about a greater good or political cause, but it can also simply be ‘me-time’. John Narisbitt’s high tech / high touch theory explains that the more time we spend at a computer ‘the more high touch and sensual our leisure time activities become’.

More from this section and the rest of the research report will follow over the coming months.

craft action

You'll know by now we feature Craftivism pretty highly in our 'things that make up DIY craft'. Craft + activism = craftivism, so says Betsy Greer, queen of craftivism and diy craft theory.

Our own Rockpool Candy is another practitioner of craftivism and readily dons the title of 'fibre activist' when someone asks what she does.

What we haven't talked much of as yet, is that to really see what creates a DIY craft scene in the UK, you also have to look at what goes on overseas. How do we compare, contrast, fit in, stand out?

In a move to combine all of this and more, we're inviting you to join in a little international craftivism of your own. The wonderful Meet Me at Mikes in Australia are holding their third annual Softies for Mirabel project.

Simply make a soft toy and post it to them by December 1st (you'll need to start soon bearing in mind a good 4-6 weeks in the post to be on the safe side!) All the soft toys they receive will be shown in their shop window for ten days before being passed on to the Mirable Foundation and handed out to children who could really do with a good cuddle from your softie.

They do provide some wise words about safety (eg please don't use buttons, or attach swing tags); as well as pointing you to some downloadable free soft toy patterns. And you can visit their flickr pool to see what softies have come before and add your little fellas too.

Find out everything, and I mean everything, you need to know just *here*

Meanwhile if you know of any examples of UK craftivism, large or small, let us know in the comments below, there may be something we'd like to feature in a main post sometime in the future...

DIY or DIE: DIY Album Art - Paper Bags and Office Supplies

I reviewed the excellent book 'DIY Album Art - Paper Bags and Office Supplies' by US author and Designer J. Namdev Hardisty for Modart Magazine recently.

'DIY OR DIE' are actually the last words written by Brian Oakley in the book that's published by Mark Batty Publishing.

DIY Album Art is a collection of handmade record covers from the Post Punk/Hardcore scene in the US in the early 90s. The book features 'selected output' from 1991 to the present, from independent labels. The book doesn't seek to be an encyclopedia of DIY album art or any kind of historical documentation of the scene, instead it's a very personal journey thought the record collection of J. Namdev Hardisty and the favourites he's selected for publication.

The accompanying text in the book is also very personal and informal. Hardisty takes us through 'Four Thoughts' of his personal, first hand experiences as a maker and collector of these records, and Brian Oakley of Corleone records (just one of the labels featured in the book) talks about his experiences and the record covers that have inspired him in his essay at the back.

The records themselves have been made from everything including aluminum foil, paper shopping bags, manilla envelopes, and photocopied paper; stuck, stamped, stickered, stenciled, stitched and/or screenprinted with varying results and forms, but always intriguing and impressive.

The aesthetic was born of necessity and in some cases naivety. These independent, bedroom labels were often run by young people with no budget for design and packaging, or no inkling of needing a budget for such things, and often gave complete creative control to the musicians themselves. That said, the results were never lacking in design merit or creative ingenuity. As Hardisty says "The DIY aesthetic didn't make things feel cheaper, but better." And he also has first hand experience of spending hours at the photocopying shop making covers for his own independent label.

The examples in the book are inspiring on an artistic level and they became works of art in their own right and incredibly collectable.

This book is a great collection of examples of the true spirit of DIY in action and will appeal to people regardless of their taste in music. It's great to see what was accomplished in the days before the internet and desktop publishing were taken for granted.

My favourite quote of the book is the final paragraph from Brian Oakley's essay and how he'd learnt "That DIY was punk, that farming, biking, voting, paying for stamps, holding hands, or reading was punk, It wasn't mohawks or the snake pits, It was the way you live your life. And how the way you live your life is reflected in the things you make and say and do. DIY OR DIE."

Hear Hear!

To see a few more images of the book, check out the original post on my Modart Blog