2016

NT2776 : A Dazzle ship at Leith

taken 8 years ago, near to Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland

This is 1 of 2 images, with title A Dazzle ship at Leith in this square
A Dazzle ship at Leith
A Dazzle ship at Leith
The MV Fingal in the Prince of Wales Dock for the Edinburgh Art Festival 2016.
Dazzle Ship - MV Fingal

Every Woman is the fourth ‘Dazzle’ ship design developed by contemporary artists to commemorate the First World War and the centenary of the Battle of Jutland, and was co-commissioned by Edinburgh Art Festival LinkExternal link and 14-18 NOW LinkExternal link. It is moored in the Prince of Wales Dock at Leith. It was ‘dazzled’ by Ciara Phillips, a Canadian artist living in Glasgow, and a Turner Prize 2014 nominee LinkExternal link

As well as drawing attention to the use of dazzling as a means of confusing the enemy, it draws attention to the part that women and artists played in the war. First appearing in 1917, it was hoped that the multi-coloured stripes and shapes could mask a ships' speed and direction. It was developed by Lt-Cmdr Norman Wilkinson, who led a small team of artists, model makers and art students, the majority of whom were women. More than 3500 ships were dazzled, but an official investigation found little evidence that the technique worked. Six illustrated panels describe the idea and process of 'dazzling', and other aspects of wartime Leith.

The ship is the ‘MV Fingal’, currently owned by the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust. It was built in Glasgow in 1963 to be a support ship to lighthouses and lightships, and operated out of Oban and Orkney. It is planned to be converted to a floating luxury hotel.

Update - January 2019: The conversion has been completed, and the hotel opens fully at the end of January, although it has been occupied by some guests since Christmas 2018. From the outside and reception area it looks very smart. LinkExternal link


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright M J Richardson and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Coastal Suburb, Urban fringe People, Events Docks, Harbours Estuary, Marine Person: Norman Wilkinson Ciara Philipps Primary Subject: Ship Boat other tags: WWI Dazzle Ship MV Fingal Leith Docks Edinburgh Art Festival Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Leith Docks [114] · Dazzle Ship [20] · MV Fingal at Leith [12] · Dazzle Ship at Leith [11] · Prince of Wales Dock [7] Other Photos: · Undazzled ship at Leith Title Clusters: · A Dazzle ship at Leith [2] ·
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
+
+
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
TIP: Click the map for more Large scale mapping
Grid Square
NT2776, 650 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
M J Richardson   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Friday, 29 July, 2016   (more nearby)
Submitted
Friday, 29 July, 2016
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NT 2706 7693 [10m precision]
WGS84: 55:58.7872N 3:10.2286W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NT 2708 7685
View Direction
North-northwest (about 337 degrees)
Clickable map
+
NW N NE
W Go E
SW S SE
Image Type (about): geograph 
This page has been viewed about 140 times
You are not logged in login | register