Alive-nesses: Proposal for Adaption, 2011

— Paint on storage containers —

Alive-nesses : Proposal for Adaptation is informed by "dazzle" painting, an anti-range finding maritime camouflage technique used by the military between 1914 and 1945. The term "dazzle" was first used by A.H. Thayer in the book, Concealing Coloration in the Animal Kingdom (1909). There Thayer described natural systems on animal camouflage that break up the biomorphic body, by making it visually indistinguishable from its environment. He referred to these disruptive or high-difference patterns as "razzle dazzle."

During the First World War, the military emulated these natural camouflage schemes and applied them to warships. Because of the oblique angles and complex geometric shapes, it was difficult for an enemy looking through a periscope to determine the front of the maritime vessel, as well as its speed and direction. In Alive-nesses, the artist has painted disruptive patterns over the surface of large storage containers at a waterfront location that echoes the original maritime application of this military camouflage technique. The patterns reorganize the perceived form of the containers, disorienting the viewer and formalizing the geometric features of the surrounding buildings and construction.

This High Line Art Commission presented by Friends of the High Line and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. High Line Art Commissions are made possible by Donald R. Mullen, Jr. This program is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and from the New York State Council of the Arts.

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