Above One of ninety posters designed by graphic design students at the University of Northern Iowa, to advertise an upcoming talk on WWI ship camouflage by RISD scholar Claudia Covert. This is one of three posters designed by Megan Guldenfennig. Copyright © 2012 by the designer. All rights reserved.
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Anon, a poetic commentary on the reputed craziness of WWI dazzle ship camouflage, first published in The Independent. Vol 56 No 3645. October 12, 1918—
O blend of emerald wild and drunken amethyst,
O wild, hysteric nightmare of psychoanalyst,
O purple cow of Burgess, O blazing tiger of Blake,
O neo-impressionist lily, O super-Barnumcular fake,
What madman out of Potsdam, what loon from
Blagovetschenskgeorgsrknlintvoff,
What Bolshevik or sideshow freak or Greenwich Village toff,
Told you that the way to hide was with vivid gobs of blue,
Cutting athwart green triangles and gray gridirons askew,
All done on a painted background of most unearthly hue,
Like a sunrise up at midnight dabbled with evening dew?