WORK OF THE CAMOUFLAGE CLASS
Unedited fragments

by László MOHOLY-NAGY
1942 / 16mm / color / silent / 1S / 22' 00

In December 1941 shortly after the United States entered World War II, Chicago’s mayor, Edward Kelly, appointed Moholy-Nagy to a committee to investigate the possibilities of camouflaging important landmarks and potential targets. György Kepes taught a certified course in camouflage at the school in the fall of 1942. The exercises and solutions were presented in an exhibition that year.

The film footage begins with natural examples of camouflage in the animal world and then presents examples of military use in different settings. Various structural solutions, such as painted patterns that confuse contours, textures and hiding buildings and equipment such as train cars and airplanes beneath structures covered by netting are shown.

NOTES ON FIVE SHORT UNEDITED FILM FRAGMENTS ABOUT THE SCHOOL OF DESIGN IN CHICAGO

Between 1940 and 1944, László Moholy-Nagy shot a number of short movies that documented the activities and projects of the design school he directed. The school had been founded in Chicago in 1937 as the New Bauhaus: American School of Design, but it was closed after only one year. In 1939 Moholy-Nagy founded another school, the School of Design in Chicago, which was reorganized and renamed the Institute of Design in 1944. In 1956 the Institute of Design became a department of the Illinois Institute of Technology, where it continues today.

Five original films have survived. They are unedited, leftover footage that Moholy-Nagy used to produce a longer film called Design Workshops in 1944, which showcased the operation of the recently renamed Institute of Design. All of Moholy-Nagy’s movies about the school were shot on 16 mm Kodachrome film. The films are silent and without intertitles.

The original film footage, as well as other important documents, are preserved in the (Elmer) Ray Pearson Institute of Design Collection of the Chicago History Museum, formerly the Chicago Historical Society. The titles and dates were probably added by Pearson.

– Hattula Moholy-Nagy, 15 April 2024

1 PRINT IN DISTRIBUTION


distribution format Digital file on server (FHD)
screen 16/9 (single screen)
speed 29,976 fps
sound sound
rental fee 90,00 €