STEPHEN HOBBS: SAS Somerset & Other War Stories

David Krut Projects Cape Town present Stephen Hobbs’ SAS Somerset and Other War Stories which launches on Thursday 2nd April 2015 at the Twenty Fifty Gallery on Spin Street, as part of the local First Thursdays initiative. The SAS Somerset is an Iziko Maritime Museum artefact and the world’s last remaining Boom Defense Vessel, moored behind the Two Oceans Aquarium at The V&A Waterfront. This temporary installation by Stephen Hobbs, in collaboration with David Krut Projects, represents the pre-production state of a series of performances on the vessel, which is a project still in development. The installation will demonstrate a unique and dynamic use of dazzle patterning and lighting onto a mock assemblage of the SAS Somerset; a spectacle conceived to enliven and transform the perception of the vessel’s significance in location and history. The project fulfils Hobbs’ long-time objective to artistically interpret two experimental periods in marine war tactics, namely, Razzle Dazzle Camouflage – a painted technique depicting a zebra-like pattern of inter-crossing lines and shapes – and Diffused Lighting Camouflage – where projectors mounted on a vessel change the colouration of a ship, and therefore alter the relationship of the ship to its surrounds. Hobbs’ approach is based on his historical research of the vessel, its function and its appearance during war times. This research and his fascination with urban and natural camouflage, merge in a re-imagining of the vessel. The anticipated performance is conceived as a playful re-reading of these camouflage applications, which acknowledges the historical role that artists have played in creating deception in the battlefield. SAS Somerset & Other War Stories provides a counterpoint to Hobbs’ solo exhibition, Permanent Culture, an elaborate multi-media revelry in the optical and psychological effects of camouflage, which opened at David Krut Projects Cape Town in February 2015. Works from Permanent Culture will be on view alongside the installation for the duration of this pop-up exhibition. OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday 2 April, 5-9pm as part of FIRST THURSDAYS CAPE TOWN at Twenty Fifty 1st Floor, 8 Spin Street, Cape Town