DIY Zine by Broos Stoffels

D IY Zin e £ 1 ,5 0

I ssue 1 N ° /12

introduction

index

Do It Yourself, or DIY, is a term history that is used by various communities of practice that focus on peo4 Useless inventions ple creating things for themselves without the aid of a paid profes- of the last century Ole Kirk Christiansen sional. Many DIY subcultures ex- 6 役に立たない日本のデ plicitly critique consumer culture, 8 ザイン which emphasizes that the solu- tion to our needs is to purchase 10 Intermezzo things, and instead encourage people to take technologies into ex ampl es their own hands. Recently, DIY has re-emerged 12 Kludging in the hipster “craft movement” (applying postmodern sensibili- 16 Free Universal Construc- ties to decoupage and sewing tion Kit projects), the Burning Man1 event/ 14 Instructional dream community (“No spectators”), the manuals – Vaka Vala techie Open Source movement mu s ic (free, user-modifiable software), and, of course, wikis. 18 Independent music There are various communities of media-makers that consider 20 Burning Man themselves DIY, for example the + 3 MANUALS indymedia network, pirate radio ON THE stations, and the zine community. BACKSIDE There is also a community of people who use the term DIY to 1. The Drunk Box refer to fabricating or repairing 2. Star Wars Origami X- wing Fighter things for home needs, on one’s 3. Pinhole Hasseblad own rather than purchasing them or paying for professional repair.

1 See p. 20

Introduction

useless inventions of the last century The beginning of the XX century was rich in various inventions. However, most ridiculous are the things for everyday use. Hat, radio, family bike with a sewing machine, a mouthpiece for smoking in the rain â&#x20AC;&#x201C; why did they think we will ever need that?

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history

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Amphibious bicycle, you can ride it on land and on water, the maximum “load” on the water, 120 kg — France, 1932 Hat Radio — USA, 1931 Family bike with a sewing machine — USA, 1939

Folding bridge for emergencies, is trans- ported on a trolley — the Netherlands, 1926 Protective mask in case of snowstorms — Canada, 1939 Device for drying hair A device for teaching a child to walk — Switzerland, 1939 5

ole kirk christiansen Ole Kirk Christiansen was the founder of Danish toy company the Lego Group. He was the 10th son of an impoverished family in Jutland in western Denmark. Born in Filskov, Denmark, he trained as a carpenter and started making wooden toys in 1932 to make a living after having lost his job during the depression. Soon after Ole’s wife passed on and left Ole to raise his four sons. Ole eventually found inspiration enough to construct a small wooden duck toy for his children. He soon found that his sons loved the new toy and decided to put them into production, using all the left over wood from his old business. In 1942 a fire broke out at the factory forcing them to rebuild. Initially, he made miniature versions of the houses and furniture as he worked on as a carpenter, but in 1947 moved onto using plastics, which were originally small plastic bears and rattles unlike the bricks we are accustomed to today. By 1949 he had produced over 200 plastic and wooden toys. He came up with the name Lego from the Danish leg godt (“play well”) and the company grew to become the Lego Group (“lego” coincidentally means “I put together” in Latin). On March 11, 1958, Christiansen died from a heart attack when he was 66 years old, and his oldest son Godtfred Kirk Christiansen took over the company. 6

1932 Ole Kirk Christiansen, master carpenter and joiner, founded his carpentry business in the village of Billund, Denmark to make stepladders, ironing boards and wooden toys. 1934 The company adopted the name LEGO in. well”. 1947 The LEGO company was the first in Denmark to buy a plastic injection molding machine for making toys. 1949 A forerunner of the plastic LEGO bricks was Christiansen’s Automatic Binding Bricks. 1954 The bricks were renamed “LEGO Mursten” or “LEGO Bricks”. 1955 The company launched the “LEGO System of Play” with 28 sets and 8 vehicles. history

history

役に立たない日本のデザイン

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history

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Toilet Paper Hatgear Watercollecting Umbrella Spaghetti Drying Chopstick Dustpan -& brushshoes Ctrl-Alt-Del Stick Vertigo soothing glasses Eating clean tool Cleaning babyclothes Butter Stick 9

intermezzo

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kludging

examples

Ever wanted to connect your Legos and Tinkertoys together? Now you can â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and much more. Announcing the Free Universal Construction Kit: a set of adapters for complete interoperability between 10 popular construction toys.

Instructional dream manuals The Dream Diary series by Vaka Valo has an old skool instruction manual vibe, if it were cut out and rearranged by a serial killer. Those innocent people were once building decks and assembling gutters could not escape horrific fates, no matter how pristine and full of hope their idyllic DIY lives seemed. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; www.vakavalo.com

vaka valo

examples

independent music Technological developments, new internet platforms, applications and innovations in the last ten years have made it easier for artists, makers and creators of all types to circumvent professional studios and create high-quality work 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 creative content, and distribute it over the web. Such works were usually displayed on a private homepage, and gained popularity through word-ofmouth recommendations or being attached to chain letters â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 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. 18

SoundCloud is the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading social sound platform where anyone can create sounds and share them everywhere. Recording and uploading sounds to SoundCloud lets people easily share them privately with their friends or publicly to blogs, sites and social networks. It takes just a click to share sounds to Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and Foursquare. SoundCloud can be accessed anywhere using the official iPhone and Android apps, as well as hundreds of creation and sharing apps built on the SoundCloud platform. SoundCloud offers free accounts to amateur creators, with more advanced users able to upgrade to premium accounts for advanced features like statistics, controlled distribution and custom branding. Some of my favourite DIY bands are featured on the right page. music

Islet The Fortune

music

Kapitan korsakov Untitled

ping pong tactics Shadow

vondelpark Camels

molly nilsson The Clocks

burning man festival You belong here and you participate. You’re not the weirdest kid in the classroom — there’s always somebody there who’s thought up something you never even considered. You’re there to breathe art. Imagine an ice sculpture emitting glacial music — in the desert. Imagine the man, greeting you, neon and benevolence, watching over the community. You’re here to build a community that needs you and relies on you. You’re here to survive. What happens to your brain and body when exposed to 107 degree heat, moisture wicking off your body and dehydrating you within minutes? You know and watch yourself. You drink water constantly and piss clear. You’ll want to reconsider drinking that alcohol (or taking those other substances) you brought with you — the mind-altering experience of Burning Man is its own drug. You slather yourself in sunblock before the sun’s rays turn up full blast. You bring enough food, water, and shelter because the elements of the new planet are harsh, and you will find no vending. You’re here to create. You’ve built an egg for shelter, a suit made of light sticks, a car that looks like a shark’s fin. You’ve covered yourself in silver, you’re wearing a straw hat and a string of pearls, or maybe a skirt for the first time. 20

10 facts you need to know 1. There is No Com- merce at Burning Man 2. You Will be Judged If You Don’t WWear a Costume 3. Public Nudity and Sex Abound 4. Burning Man Origi nated on a Nude Beach in San Francisco 5. Burning Man Random Hookups Are Variously Known as “TentTrysts,” “Playa Sex,” “DustLove” or “Burner Affairs” 6. There are Private, Sex- Themed Parties with Wet Bars Galore 7. The Quirkier, the Better 8. There is More Than Just Sex and Drinks 9. You Are Not Alone: Volunteers Are Plentiful 10. Burning Man Takes its Name and Rules Seri- ously

music