Graphic Design and Abstraction for WWI British Ships

(Above) The Father of Razzle Dazzle camouflage Norman Wilkinson. Click any image for larger view.


(Above) Early graphic design for painting ships. Click any image for larger view.


(Above) Graphic design for ship and photo of actual ship below. Click any image for larger view.




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(Above) This ship is pretty wack! Click any image for larger view.

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THE SITUATION: You’re the Fleet Admiral of the Navy in World War I. Your ships are being sunk at an alarming rate by the devastatingly effective German U-Boat. The traditional camouflage isn’t working because your environment (sea and sky) changes with the weather. What do you do?

THE INSIGHT

It’s not where you are—it’s where you’re going.

World War I occurred from 1914–1918; back then sinking an enemy battleship was a three-step process:

Step 1: Locate your target’s position and plot its course.
Step 2: Determine the ship’s speed and confirm the direction it is heading.
Step 3: Launch torpedo not directly at the ship, but where you think it’s going to be by the time the torpedo reaches the ship.

*Remember this is early 20th century warfare, weapons don’t travel at the speed they do today.

THE SOLUTION:
HIT THEM WITH THE RAZZLE DAZZLE

Forget about not being seen, that only solves their first problem. Focus on confusing them so they don’t know where you’re going. Then their torpedoes will be shot in vain because they thought you zigged when you really zagged.

British Artist and naval officer Norman Wilkinson had this very insight and pioneered the Dazzle Camouflage movement (known as Razzle Dazzle in the United States). Norman used bright, loud colors and contrasting diagonal stripes to make it incredibly difficult to gauge a ship’s size and direction.

It was cheap, effective, and widely-adopted during the War. Check out the incredible photographs above.

Via here.

Salvaging Beauty

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OFTEN I GET EMAIL SURPRISES FROM DEDICATED READERS, PEOPLE WHO WANT TO SHARE WHAT THEY HAVE FOUND WITH OTHERS. As my readers know, I have to really like what I see in order to showcase something on this blog, so many times things just do not make it there.

Albert Tanquero, a collector in Chicago sent me a selection of digital images that he made from a group of 120 glass plate negatives he bought at a flea market a year ago. The former owner said they were salvaged from a dumpster in North Dakota. Good thing. I love these images. Albert says that many of the glass images are in perfect condition, but the ones he loves most are “heavily damaged.” The subjects of these images are WWI (1914 - 1918) soldiers, either on leave or ready to leave for war.

These damaged and deteriorated images have a mysterious quality that borders on the surreal. Why? We sense that most of these men were on the edge of a major conflict—horrors they had yet to see. We know that many of the young men in these images were soon to be killed or injured in this first great war of the 20th century or have died since. Adding to the premonition we are privy to in our 21st century time machine, the deterioration of these images simply adds a spooky sense of time, age and ghostly ugliness that borders on the sublime and beautiful.

To say that Albert Tanquero has an “eye” is putting it mildly. He must have an exciting collection of images. Albert also has an amazing collection of old police mugshots and other fun, found photos, which he has reproduced and made available for the public. It’s a wonderful collection of note cards and other cool stuff posted on his web site called thefound.com.

Check it out!

An ‘Artist/Soldier’s’ Past Time

(Above) Welsh Dragon
Description: Shell casing flower vase made from German 77mm shell. Embossed figure of Welsh dragon with embossed background. Bottom of shell crimped. Top of shell crimped and flared. Shell dated September 1914 on headstamp. 8” tall.
(Above) Statue of Liberty
Description: Decorated shell casing made from American 3pdr naval shell. Statue of Liberty motif with three birds in flight on reverse. Shell dated 1898 on headstamp. 12” tall.
(Above left) Bird and Coyote
Description: Shell casing flower vase made from French 105mm shell. Bird in tree, flower, coyote, and date 1919 in relief. Embossed background. Shell dated 1918 on headstamp. 15” tall.

(Above right) Grape Vase
Description: Shell casing flower vase made from French 75mm shell. Floral motif with grapes and grape leaves. Top scalloped incorporating leaf patterns. Engraved leaves with embossed background. Shell dated 1916 on headstamp. 12” tall.
(Above) Argonne Vase
Description: Shell casing flower vase made from French 75mm shell. Poppy motif and ‘Argonne’ in relief with embossed background. Scalloped top and twisted fluting on bottom half of shell casing. Shell dated 1916 on headstamp. 13 1/2” tall.
(Above) Larger Floral Vase
Description: Decorated shell casing made from German 210mm shell. Embossed floral motif within two bands. Scalloped top. Shell dated May 1917 on headstamp. 9 1/2” tall.

WITH NEARLY 30 YEARS OF COLLECTING OBJECTS, including folk art, I have often seen examples of “trench art,” an art form largely practiced during WWI but certainly continued during WWII. I always had a rather romantic view of the art form—that of soldiers sitting in muddy trenches during a lull in the action hammering a spent brass shell into something beautiful, turning killing tools into something beautiful for a loved one back home.

Certainly, some objects could have been made while actually in the trenches (whittled wood carvings, etc.) but the reality of these brass artillery shells being hammered into art while on the front lines is largely a myth. More than likely they were made well behind the front, while a soldier was at rest. Sometimes, objects like this were made as a theraputic past time when convalescing from wounds or illness. In terms of raw material, brass shell casings were more than plentiful.

Likely scenarios are that the “soldier/artists” made these objects and sold them to other soldiers; that local artisans in nearby towns made them to sell to other soldiers for gifts back home; or possibly they were made by prisoners-of-war in exchange for cigarettes or money.

However they were made, they are lovely examples of folk art with a real story behind them. Look for these the next time you are hitting the flea markets or antique malls. You’ll find them to be more common than you might think.

Learn more about this art form at www.trenchart.org.