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In Literature
In Visual Art

The Art of Bricolage (online, 2013) defines bricolage as, " a construction made with objects that are re-purposed, re-identified and transformed into part of the whole work of art - or, collage with muscle." Bricolage visual artworks combine and juxtapose materials in a ways that might point to issues related to place, identity, and cultural critique.  

The Electronic Laborynth (online, 2000) note that contemporary literary styles tend toward "bricolage, the use of the bits and pieces of older artifacts to produce a new, if not "original," work of art, a work which blurs the traditional distinctions between the old and the new even as it blurs those between high and low art." Such literary forms draw on intertextuality, in ideas from outside the "primary" text are brought inside by an author as to draw comparisons to, enter into dialogue with, and/or destabilize the original text (Lemaster, 2012). Slam poetry, contemporary song lyrics (specifically those found in hip-hop and in some of the works of Bob Dylan), numerous contemporary books (especially those that rewrite and/or parody existing material, ex. Wicked and Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies."  

Music is inherently connected bricolage; creators draw on past techniques and musical works to make new works. However, in contemporary music, we see this emphasized to greater extents. The use of samples, found sounds, "non-traditional" instruments in different settings, and lyrical intertextuality, we see that many contemporary musical practices are heavily reliant upon bricolage (ex. remixes, mashups, etc.). One wonderful example is the work of  Kutiman, an artist who uses disparate YouTube videos to craft new musical works. Take a look at some examples of Kutiman and other musical artists that draw heavily on bricolage techniques.

 

Bricolage might even be at the heart of maker culture and the work/play of musical makers that draw on technologies like MaKey-MaKey, Arduino, E-textiles, and so much more.

In Music

Crafting at the margins and making connections with what is "at hand"

 

Bricolage is a French word that essentially refers to a skilled type of "Do It Yourself." According to Oxford Reference (online, 2015), bricolage involves "the appropriation of pre-existing materials that are ready-to-hand to create something new (Lévi-Strauss). This creation both reflects and constructs the bricoleur's identity. The term is widely used to refer to the intertextual authorial practice of adopting and adapting fragments from other texts and to the ways in which consumers make use of commercial products and/or their advertising for their own purposes, making them their own by giving them new meanings." Today, we will make use of this term as a metaphor for how we and students construct musical experiences and how we might reinvision music education practices in creative and diverse manners that value culture and context. First, let's take a look at some examples of bricolage from different artforms. It is important to note that, as Derrida illustrates, if might be impossible to find human work that isn't bricolage as all artwork displays characteristics of using materials at the ready, creative adaptation, and even juxtaposition to help give existing items and ideas new meanings. 

“The bricoleur . . .  uses ‘the means at hand,’ that is, the instruments he finds at his disposition around him, those which are already there, which had not been especially conceived with an eye to the operation for which they are to be used and to which one tries by trial and error to adapt them, not hesitating to change them whenever it appears necessary, or to try several of them at once, even if their form and their origin are heterogenous – and so forth." (in "Structure, Sign, and Play," Derrida, 1966, p. 6). 

Our Musical Bricolage

 

As we further develop our community here at IMPACT, let's find others to make music with. We will enact our bricoleur (one who makes bricolage) selves as we collaboratively create new music to set the stage for our intellectual bricolage later in the session. 

 

To make our musical bricolage works, first, consider the colling questions:

  1. What is your favorite songs (right now)? What about the favorite songs of those in your group?
     

  2. What might be the favorite songs of the students with whom you work?
     

  3. What might you be able to crafts musically that draws on answers from questions 1 and 2 and that makes use of this space and the materials at hand?

 

Our new bricolage works will be posted in a playlist below. 

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