Disruptive
Pattern Material: An Encyclopedia of Camouflage
by Hardy Blechman
Firefly Books, Buffalo, 2004
720 pp., illus. 5000 col. Trade, $125.00.
ISBN: 1-55407-011-2
Reviewed
by Stefaan Van Ryssen
Hogeschool Gent
stefaan.vanryssen@pandora.be
Camouflage comes out of hiding. With more
than 3000 images of camouflage patterns
and applications, colours and fabrics,
artwork and gadgets, this book certainly
brings it out in the open. After this
book I cannot imagine there is anything
left to tell about the subject, except
maybe for the physics of stealth airplanes
and the most recent camouflaging technologies
that are developed in the age of night
vision and ultra high tech intelligence.
But the book is certainly no homage to
the cleverness of military tactician.
Quite on the contrary. Dedicated to "all
those who have established and are maintaining
the right to refuse to kill", it
is practically an anti-militaristic book.
And the fact that the author became interested
in camouflage materials through her work
as a fashion designer adds to this: "I
saw that not everyone was using it as
a way to ape soldiers. It seemed there
were other reasons, the most salient being
that the combination of colours (and the
shapes, to an extent) used in camouflage
patterns taps into every humans
subconscious love of nature. [
]
I hope that DPM encourages the further
widespread use and production of camouflage
patterns by civilians, as an expression
of a desire for peace, not war."
(p. 21)
DPM is organised thematically rather than
alphabetically. The opening section deals
with camouflage in nature. Next comes
an historical overview of the military
usage of camouflage and its different
variants. The largest part by far covers
its many cultural uses in
art, architecture, fashion, sports, music
and media, toys and accessories. Do not
expect too much descriptive and analytical
text though. Most of the content is anecdotal
and illustrative.
One of the most surprising and amusing,
if not entirely innocent episodes in the
history of camouflage was the use of dazzle
painting in the First World War.
In an attempt to confuse German U-Boot
gunners, British and American ships were
painted in vividly coloured patterns.
Because stern and bow became practically
undistinguishable and some parts of the
ship almost blended in with the background,
the gunner would not be able to determine
the speed and course of the targeted ship.
(A torpedo has to be directed in front
of the ship to make up for its movement
during flight time).
More recently, different camouflage schemes
have been developed for microwave and
radio antennae. Because they are variously
disguised as cacti, palm trees, bell towers,
minarets and even wind mills, one might
wonder if in the long run some species
of tree might not evolve to mimic antennae
to avoid being chopped up by project developers.
A further illustration of how widely DPM
has infiltrated in our daily environment
are the surprising camouflage versions
of Barbie, one as a soldier and one as
a more romantic carrier of secret
messages. Even the 1988 worlds
most glamorous teenager, miss Brooke
Shields, inspired a camouflage outfit
and the worlds most glamorous
contemporary painter Andy Warhol
did a camouflage portrait of Joseph Beuys.
And yes, there is an explanation of the
history of the word camouflage
in this book as well although it is hard
to discover beneath the wealth of illustrations.