CAMO II by Karl Monies

Traditionally, camouflage has most commonly been associated with either military applications or natural history. However, the adaptive term has gained a rich set of meanings over time, not only in reference to nature’s transformative ability to blend into its physical surroundings, but further engaging camouflage as a phenomenological tool to perform social belonging. Emerging out of an interest in the connections between ecology, visual deception and social codes, CAMO explores the many dimensions of camouflage as the art and practice of concealment.

Playing with honesty and deception, carpets that simulate the floors of the forest are laid out on the floors of the gallery. An enlarged photo of white mushrooms growing on a blue stone bears a camouflage aesthetic as the subject, itself, mimics nature.