I can't remember when I learned about the
Dazzle Camouflage that was used for British and American navy vessels in WWI and WWII, but I do remember my surprise and thrill at the discovery of it. You'll see these images repeatedly online, along with other contemporary incarnations of the concept. For some reason, the newer and alternative (non naval) implementations of the Razzle Dazzle paint schemes don't have the umpphh that the forms overlayed onto these vessels have. The ships themselves are visually stunning canvases on which to deploy the patterns. There are many references and links to a RISD site that accompanied an exhibit about Dazzle Camou, constituted by material donated by RISD Alum,
Maurice Freedman, who was a camoufleur in Florida prior to attending RISD.
The graphic patterns of the Dazzle paint schemes are particularly appealing to me currently. I'm relating them to the repetitive graphic qualities of road signs which have been becoming more an more fascinating to me in recent years and which have been finding their way into some of my paintings, but more on that later..
The French Cruiser, Gloire
No comments:
Post a Comment