The DIY Ethic
For more than twenty years — my entire adult life — I’ve been a committed, fervent advocate of the DIY ethic.
What Is DIY?
“DIY’ stands for “Do It Yourself.” While there are many different ways to elaborate this, and many opinions as to when DIY was first defined as a philosophy and movement, I interpret it according to the following core principles:
- Purity of vision - Create the art you want, how you want. Place an emphasis on the quality of the content over flashy, polished presentation and packaging.
- Principled expression - Never abandon your personal principles for exposure or fortune. It is better to reach a smaller audience than turn your back on your beliefs.
- Self-education - Teach yourself, and never stop learning. Build on what has come before.
- All art is valid - Everyone is creative. In this information age, there is an audience for everything, and that audience is the sole arbitrator of value in art.
- We are all peers - You are no better than your audience or your colleagues. There is no celebrity in DIY. The people enjoying your creativity are creators themselves.
- Trust your audience - Ask for and accept their support. Reject the temptation to restrict their access to your creativity, and never break your covenant with them.
- Serve the community - Doing it yourself should never mean going it alone. Make mentoring, service, and giving back a major component of your approach to creativity.
Driven By the DIY Ethic
I view all of my creative endeavors through the lens of the DIY ethic. I support…
- neopatronage
- the merit economy
- disintermediation
- social networks and community
- network neutrality
- fair copyright and patent legislation
- alternatives to digital rights management
- open media, open source, and open access
…and other DIY-friendly concepts.
