Bricolage, when used in a discussion of philosophy and aesthetics can be used to refer to man's innate reaction to an object and, at times, the divide between the seemingly “natural order,” natural usage or placement, of an object or image and the actual usage of that entity as presented in front of him.
Bricolage can also extend to the usage of items beyond their immediate uses, the use of found objects to fulfill a role that other objects traditionally fill, or simply the juxtaposition of strange and foreign objects beside more mundane counterparts.
Aesthetically, when an item is removed from it's “natural” context or usage and adapted to another form, it presents a cognitive dissonance at the most basic level that can contribute to feelings of shock or unease. Those who might disturb the natural social order by placing an object out of place might be provocative bricoleurs – persons who use objects beyond the intentions of their natural contexts, or who are willing to juxtapose remote distant relatives in order to create new meaning.
Hebdige writes, “Together, object and meaning constitute a sign, and, within any one culture, such signs are assembled, repeatedly, into characteristic forms of discourse. However, when the bricoleur re-locates the significant object in a different position within that discourse, using the same overall repertoire of signs, or when that object is placed within a different total ensemble, a new discourse is constituted, a different message conveyed.” (pp. 104)
Examples of Punk Bricolage, Umberto Eco
The punk movement's most famous example of the use of bricolage would be the safety pin. Initially used in common context to hold together a diaper or other pieces of cloth safely without being stuck or jabbed – the safety pin emerged during the punk rock era to be an entirely different symbol. Used to pierce human lips and ears as well as to hold patches and flags onto torn “rags” - the safety pin became an icon for the fringe movement.
Punks were exemplary populist bricoleurs, removing “safe” objects from their normal context and remaking them in their own image in a form of“semiotic guerilla warfare” as posited by semiotician Umberto Eco – a transference of symbols from mundane (such as a metal comb turned honed razor) and commercial (a mod punk rocker wearing a suit and tie to a rock show) into their own altered messages in the underground community, rejecting their conventional uses and symbolism.
Style as aesthetic expression was one of the most influencial subtexts of the punk movement, as well as a continued movement in contemporary subculture. Succintly described by Eco in Hebdige'sSubculture: The Meaning of Style, saying, “I speak through my clothes.”
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