bricolage
Whatever-works construction method
Bricolage is creating something from whatever materials happen to be available—a kind of improvisational construction using odds and ends rather than purpose-made components.
The term comes from French and carries connotations of resourceful tinkering: The set design was a bricolage of thrift-store finds and salvaged wood.
In academic contexts, bricolage describes cultural production that repurposes existing symbols or texts into new meanings.
French structural anthropologist
- structuralismAnalysis through underlying systems
- myth-makingCreating foundational narratives
- postmodernismSkepticism toward universal truths
- DerridaGrammatology's French author
deconstruction · intertextuality · hybridity · pastiche · appropriation · discourse · semiotics · anthropology
Assembled mixed-media artwork
- assemblageCollected group of things
- montageAssembled sequence of images
- mixed mediaArt combining diverse materials
- found objectsUnaltered items as art
readymades · installation · mosaic · decoupage · juxtaposition · appropriation · recombination · pastiche
Created manually, not mechanically
- artisanalMade by skilled craftspeople
- patchworkFabric scraps sewn together
- quiltingLayered fabric stitching
- assemblageCollected group of things
handicraft · stitching · piecing · maker · workshop · tactile · materiality · handiwork
Temporary, improvised substitute
- make-doManage with less
- jury-riggedTemporarily fixed with scraps
- cobbled-togetherAssembled from random parts
- ad-hocFor a specific purpose
stopgap · kludge · workaround · patch · lash-up · jerry-built · improvised · thrown-together
Clever, original thinking
- tinkeringCasual, unskilled adjusting
- repurposingAdapting for different use
- upcyclingImproving discarded materials' value
- salvagingRecovering discarded or damaged goods
scavenging · reclaiming · recycling · reusing · thriftiness · frugality · inventiveness · problem-solving
Lévi-Strauss
French structural anthropologist
- structuralismAnalysis through underlying systems
- myth-makingCreating foundational narratives
- postmodernismSkepticism toward universal truths
Derrida · deconstruction · intertextuality · hybridity · pastiche · appropriation · discourse · semiotics · anthropology · epistemology
collage
Assembled mixed-media artwork
- assemblageCollected group of things
- montageAssembled sequence of images
- mixed mediaArt combining diverse materials
found objects · readymades · installation · mosaic · decoupage · juxtaposition · appropriation · recombination · pastiche · sampling
handmade
Created manually, not mechanically
- artisanalMade by skilled craftspeople
- patchworkFabric scraps sewn together
- quiltingLayered fabric stitching
assemblage · handicraft · stitching · piecing · maker · workshop · tactile · materiality · handiwork · fabrication
makeshift
Temporary, improvised substitute
- make-doManage with less
- jury-riggedTemporarily fixed with scraps
- cobbled-togetherAssembled from random parts
ad-hoc · stopgap · kludge · workaround · patch · lash-up · jerry-built · improvised · thrown-together · rough-and-ready
ingenuity
Clever, original thinking
- tinkeringCasual, unskilled adjusting
- repurposingAdapting for different use
- upcyclingImproving discarded materials' value
salvaging · scavenging · reclaiming · recycling · reusing · thriftiness · frugality · inventiveness · problem-solving · adaptability
- loisirssport, lecture, cinema, musique, cuisine
- hybrid genresjazz fusion, rock opera, blues rock, folk rock, country rock
- structuralismLevi-Strauss, structuralism, structural analysis, signifier, signified
- compilationsanthology, compilation, anthologies, collection, collected stories
- mixturesmix, mixture, blend, blending, amalgam
- Art Jargoncurator, gallerist, provenance, oeuvre, vernissage
bricolageprecision engineering
Manufacturing requiring extreme accuracy
scientific method · industrial manufacturing · mass production · engineering · master planning
bricolageminimalism
Aesthetic of reduction
purism · refinement · classical composition · haute couture · formalism
bricolagecommissioned work
Creation made by request
made-to-order · new materials · factory production · new construction