Published January 2009
The term ‘Crazy Ivan’ was a name coined by the US navy to describe a manoeuvre Russian submarines made during the Cold War. It would involve the captain making erratic sideways movements to reveal what lay behind the propellers in the sonar’s blind spot – so as to have a full understanding of what was going on around them.
‘Angles and Dangles’ is another naval pen name, describing when a submarine leaves port and makes deep up and downward movements to make sure that everything onboard is properly secured. The rattle of pots and pans out at sea could echo across the ocean floor, revealing their whereabouts and clouding the noise of any boats near by.
Readiness and awareness, both aggressive and protective ideas, seem to dominate so much of the Tom Clancy or C. S. Forester-esque midshipman’s journey. The artistic midshipman, on the other hand, will often find themself neither ready nor aware – in a place that is awake to what’s happened, not what’s happening. In this second issue of Das Superpaper we have chosen to celebrate artists looking to a new world, where “…the sea will grant each man new hope as sleep brings dreams”. If quoting Columbus isn’t too much. The course they navigate has both the reflexivity of circumstance and the promise of discovery.