Friday, July 26, 2002


Lightships and Dazzle Ships

Why is there not more on the web about Dazzle Ships? (Not the OMD Album). Have a look at this picture for the best ever Dazzle Ship painting by a man who actually created many real dazzle ships. It has just struck me that Dazzle Ship painting looks very like certain MC Escher woodcuts. In fact, as the aim of Dazzle Painting was to cause confusion about the true direction of the travel of a ship, the concept matches with many Escher drawings as well, especially Concave and Convex. I have just read the chapter "Little Harmonic Labyrinth" in Godel, Escher, Bach and this picture is part of the story. Ian Hamilton Finlay is heavily into Dazzle Ships and has the best joke in the world about them (Probably the only joke in the world about them but that is beside the point). It is a one-liner along the lines of :- "Many warships were sunk by Submarines which just couldn't stand modern art" which is extremely funny when read out in a quiet art Gallery. It was funny at the tate Liverpool in 1990 and it was funny at the Tate St. Ives in 2002. Maybe I need a Dazzle Ship theme to the template here. Some investigation is required.

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