Sin título (barco carguero)

During the World Wars I and II, warships from the British and North American navies adopted the so-called “dazzle camouflage.” Because it’s impossible to adapt optically to the ever-changing context of the open sea, the dazzle designs offered an alternative to invisibility, making it difficult for the enemy to determine the speed, direction, and position of the ship. Today, international waters are still tax-free havens, the perfect place to conceal—only now it’s large amounts of grain, to hide it from the markets, provoking an absence, generating false scarcity and forcing a price hike. When the merchandise reaches the desired price, the ship docks at a port and sells its wares. Inaccurate data on natural catastrophes, the banning of exports, and bad harvests are other strategies to manipulate the price increases. Rumors are an efficient financial instrument.

(Text written by TBA21 and used as short text in the booklet of the exhibition "Remedios", C3A, Córdoba, 2023)