Bricolage
Etymology
A French word for DIY tinkering, from "bricoler" (originally "to move to and fro," as of a rebounding ball). Anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss gave it theoretical weight in "The Savage Mind" (1962), contrasting the "bricoleur" with the engineer. Flagged as a French loanword given scholarly meaning.
noun · /bree-koh-LAHZH/
Creation by improvising with whatever materials happen to be at hand.
What it names
A handle for the resourceful, magpie way subcultures, artists, and tinkerers build meaning from scavenged parts — useful for describing creativity under constraint.
Example
Punk style was bricolage — safety pins, bin bags, and school ties yanked from context and restitched into rebellion.
Related idea
Compare pastiche, an imitation stitched from borrowed styles; bricolage is broader and more improvised, working with objects and ideas alike rather than aping other art.