Camouflage of Large Installations: Air Raid Precautions, Handbook No. 11

<p><em>Camouflage of Large Installations</em> by Charles Stankievech is a rare World War II handbook created by the British Government as a guide for factory owners to implement the then new theories of camouflage in order to protect industrial assets. The handbook is composed of three sections: instructional, advertising by corporations supplying camouflage services and full-page colour swatches. The full-page color swatches are particularly beautiful and when viewed aesthetically are interesting forerunners to the history of monochromes, specifically Yves Klein’s first artwork <em>Peintures</em> (1954): a small portfolio booklet that presents a series of monochromes. Interestingly, Klein had never made these paintings and the booklet was not a representation of work, but actually a deception used to secure his first exhibition in Paris. The contemporary artwork by artist Walid Raad / The Atlas Group, <em>Secrets in the open sea</em>, continues the tradition of monochromes and deceptions in bookworks and also completes the trinity of works included in Stankievech’s exhibition <em>CounterIntelligence </em>(2013).</p>