Urban Camouflage deals with the question how to camouflage oneself and one’s identity in the urban space. Our costumes are inspired by the «ghillie suits», the military camouflage suit. It was an adventure to wear the suit in the stores because of the conflicts with the employees, the reaction of the customers and also to see the pretty well camouflage effect in a real situation.
posted by educatedslacker on Mar 5, 2009 - 48 comments

Two artists that paint humans so that they blend into their surroundings: Liu Bolin and Emma Hack (click 'body art' and then 'exhibitions' to get into the image galleries)
posted by Kattullus on Aug 27, 2008 - 16 comments

Desiree Palmen makes some really neat camouflage photographs. via
posted by cerebus19 on Feb 27, 2008 - 14 comments

Ellsworth Kelley, Bill Blass, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and a host of lesser known but equally talented painters, designers, sound engineers and actors served together during World War II in the Ghost Army – the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, a unit whose existence remained an official secret until 1996. German soldiers referred to them as the "Phantom Army," because one moment they were in one place, and the next, they were attacking their flanks or from the rear. Together, they made rubber tanks and fake Jeeps; their changing unit insignia were designed to fool spies and allied units alike. They recorded the sounds of Allied units building bridges or moving troops and broadcast them from special sound trucks, leading the Germans to conclude that the U.S. Army had more troops in more places than it did. "Guys drew, or painted, all the time," documenting their lives, the lives of their fellow soldiers, and that of the local populations in wartime Europe.
posted by rtha on Oct 5, 2007 - 23 comments

Armless Hunters [more inside]
posted by dios on Sep 12, 2007 - 47 comments

Octopus escaping through one inch hole. Octopus eats shark. Camouflaged octopus. Octopus attacks mini-sub. (Google videos)
posted by Turtles all the way down on Dec 4, 2006 - 44 comments

Camouflage Cell Towers hidden in trees, buildings, and crosses.
posted by adzm on Apr 7, 2005 - 7 comments

Camouflaged and Walking octopuses Octopus marginatus and Octopus (Abdopus) aculeatus, that walk along the seafloor using two alternating arms and apparently use the remaining six arms for camouflage.
posted by dov3 on Mar 30, 2005 - 23 comments

Invisibility cloak! "The idea is very simple. If you project background image onto the masked object, you can observe the masked object just as if it were virtually transparent". The Optical Camouflage page has more applications and video of a (nearly) invisible man. (First seen in Time's coolest of 2003)
posted by iffley on Jun 14, 2004 - 10 comments

Japanese create "invisible" cloak. Well, not really. Technically, just a two sided cloak, the front of which is a projector, and the back of which is a camera. Only works, one would imagine, if you're looking at a person straight on, and even then it would help if you were partially blind, or at the very least, raised in the wilderness & easily fooled by modern technology.
posted by jonson on Feb 5, 2003 - 55 comments

Shaggies - No, it's not a "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters" costume, it only looks that way. Just the thing for the Dad or Grad on your list who wants to look like a shambling mound of leaves for that special occasion. Be sure to check their home page for a great group shot. (Even available for pets)
posted by kokogiak on May 29, 2001 - 4 comments