The Special Works School was refounded this year, as a collective of artists, writers and designers who want to engage critically with this secret history of the Camouflage Park. During the First World War, a corner of Kensington Gardens was fenced off from public access and turned into a replica of Flanders, filled with trenches, shell holes, fake trees and decoy tanks. It became the home of the Special Works School, established by the Royal Engineers as a place to teach, display and experiment with new techniques of camouflage. Following the end of the First World War, the Camouflage Park was dismantled – but did it ever really go away?
Special Works School / Camouflage Park publication: The Special Works School Preliminary Report gathers together field observations, speculative proposals, historical images and capsule essays on the Continued Existence of Camouflage Park within Kensington Gardens. Edited by Heather Ring and James Wilkes. Designed by Simon Elvins. With contributions from: Tom Chivers, Simon Elvins, Lily Ford, Synnove Fredericks, Alex Haw, The Henningham Family Press, Manu Luksch, Mike Massaro & James Trefor-Jones, Vahakn Matossian, Sophie Nield, Christian Nold, Mark Pilkington, Heather Ring, James Wilkes, Hannah Wood, Patrick Wright and Liam Young.
Published with the support of Openvizor.
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