On March 12, 1919, the Chelsea Arts Club held a costume party, called a Dazzle Ball, at Royal Albert Hall in London. It was inspired by the abstract geometric shapes on camouflaged ships in World War I , a method that was first employed by the British, who called it “dazzle painting” or dazzle camouflage. When the Americans adopted a comparable method, they referred to it by other names, among them “baffle painting,” “jazz painting,” and (rarely) “razzle dazzle.”
By mh
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Posted in Composition
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Also tagged Abstraction, action, american, background, baffle, ball, black, british, camouflage, chelsea arts club, collection, costumes, dazzle, disappearance, DIY, found, fuckem, fun, geometric, hide, invisibility, invisible, london, painting, public art, public space, razzle, razzle dazzle, royal albert hall, shapes, ships, unknown, white, world war
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I met Singaporean photographer Nguan recently, who off-handedly compared his practice to playing jazz standards – being part of a particular tradition but offering his own take on familiar subjects. His description resonated very much with me.
http://nguan.tv
