Artists of Deception

I've never seen a rubber tank before today. Well, it was not an actual tank, but a picture of a real rubber tank. The picture showed 4 American soldiers holding a tank aloft. That would have been after the secret was out, the secret being the tactics used by the "Ghost Army"to deceive the German army into thinking that the American troops were more prevalent than they actually were---a mobile deception unit. The pictures have been declassified, and are part of an exhibit now on display in Mechanicville. The visual deception strategies required artists able to stage the media illusions, so the army recruited the best talent available. Their artwork is incredible and beautiful; one of the artists was Bill Blass. In addition to the artwork on display, the exhibit features a video with voiceovers about how the artists went to various locations to draw their pictures, and to blend in with the regular army. One location frequented by the artists was a whorehouse where they, artists to the core, sketched the nude women. At first I thought the narrator said poorhouse, but I soon realized that he'd used the w-word. A-hem; a picture IS worth a thousand words. Since the kids were 8 and 9, we all pretended not to have heard. War is hell.