RGU to host Ghost Tank & Dazzle Ships exhibition to mark centenary of end of WW1

Staff from Gray’s have been collaborating with primary pupils in a collage project to design the stunning ‘Dazzle’ camouflage scheme that will bedeck a convoy of more than 100 ships.  

These will sit alongside a life-sized WW1 tank, which has been built by secondary pupils from city schools with the help of Gray's students.

The Dazzle ship scheme was invented by a group of artists who wanted to do their bit for the war effort. They offered their services to create a camouflage design, acknowledging the ships were too big to hide conventionally but instead applied a disruptive pattern.

The pattern would confuse enemy submarines when they fired their torpedoes. The aim of the pattern was to make the ship look like it was going in a different direction or in a convoy it would be hard to spot where one started and another one stopped.

Craig Ellis, from Gray’s School of Art, has been leading on the project and believes the exhibition will provide a striking commemoration to mark 100 years since the end of World War 1.

“This has been a collaborative project between staff and students to engage with both local primary and secondary schools and hopefully bring the local community in to the University.

“The exhibition tries to commemorate the sacrifices of war while celebrating the great innovations that have sprung from conflict - ‘necessity is the mother of invention’.”

The exhibition will open on Sunday November 11 at 10am, with a minutes silence at 11.00am to mark the centenary.

The event is open to the public and features the work from the primary and secondary pupils in the Atrium of the Sir Ian Wood Building, Garthdee Campus.