Bob the Builder
As a punk, one was obliged to subscribe to the political ethos of do it yourself: form your own band, print your own magazines, design your own clothes, etc., etc.
I remember, however, that Rotten supplemented (and qualified) this idea by also insisting that whatever it was one did, one should always do it properly and was contemptuous of those who understood the first rule of punk as a license to be mediocre or inept. There was nothing shoddy or second-rate about the Sex Pistols; the look and the sound was all carefully contrived with an eye for detail and a profound understanding of style.
But for most people, of course, DIY isn't an anarchic method of self-empowerment and taking back control, it's to do with home improvements and having somewhere to go and something to do at the weekends; i.e., wander round Homebase, before then annoying the neighbours with a power drill as you work on the extension or loft conversion.
I remember, however, that Rotten supplemented (and qualified) this idea by also insisting that whatever it was one did, one should always do it properly and was contemptuous of those who understood the first rule of punk as a license to be mediocre or inept. There was nothing shoddy or second-rate about the Sex Pistols; the look and the sound was all carefully contrived with an eye for detail and a profound understanding of style.
But for most people, of course, DIY isn't an anarchic method of self-empowerment and taking back control, it's to do with home improvements and having somewhere to go and something to do at the weekends; i.e., wander round Homebase, before then annoying the neighbours with a power drill as you work on the extension or loft conversion.
In other words, it's part and parcel of la vie domestique - i.e., the most boring form of life there is.
DIY encourages consumers to imagine they're skilled artisans, but it's more recreational than creative in character and more about cost-cutting than self-expression. At best - and at a real stretch - it's the idiot younger brother of the Arts and Crafts movement, though I still find it difficult to see a family resemblance between William Morris and Tommy Walsh.
To paraphrase Wilde, a great deal of nonsense is spoken about DIY. There's nothing essentially dignified about hammering a nail, hoovering a carpet, painting a ceiling, or fitting a floor. Indeed, most - if not all - jobs of this kind are dirty, dusty, and depressing and such pleasureless activities should be admitted as such.
It's good to take pride in what you do - but when what you're doing is tedious and undignified, then it's best to be honest about it. Sometimes, it's preferable not to do it yourself, but to get on the blower to Bob the builder ...
Note: I'm paraphrasing Wilde on manual labour in his 1891 essay 'The Soul of Man Under Socialism', written in his anarcho-libertarian phase: click here to read online.
Getting Bob the Builder on the phone to do what you are more than capable of doing yourself is to remove yourself one step further from lived reality. By the same logic, a blog post could be seen as one step away from real lived communication with the world. There is dignity in the mundane, a connection of sorts, and from this a sense of self through endeavour. Why you are doing DIY is of more interest. As Burkin complains in WIL, 'we are such dreary liars. Our one idea is to lie to ourselves.' The collier who buys a piano because 'it makes him so much higher in his neighbouring colliers' eyes' does it because 'he sees himself reflected in the neighbouring opinion' rather than for the pleasure of playing - the act itself. Could this distinction be made with DIY? Done because of status anxiety or done for the pleasure of self mastery? But agreed, rattling drills are an annoyance, a scourge of suburbia, no matter who happens to be holding them.
ReplyDeleteI don't really know what "lived reality" is, or how one might "remove" oneself from it ...
DeleteThe mundane model of dignity rooted in labour also sounds a bit dreary too, if I'm honest.
But thanks for taking time to comment on this forum of counterfeit communication ...