Abstract/Summary

This article explores the varied applications for moiré in design, engineering and the arts. The textile origins of moiré are reviewed and linked by analogy to the visual artefacts of print and screen, from which moiré is generated, whether by accident, design or default. A survey of moiré follows, starting with early process experiments and graphic arts products, such as ready-made mechanical screens, tints and patterns, before reviewing the work of designers and artists, principally active in the second half of the twentieth century, who co-opted these materials and effects to inventive visual and conceptual ends.