One of the major figures of British pop art, Sir Peter Blake (b 1932), has been commissioned to 'dazzle' a Mersey Ferry.
This is the old ferry colour scheme - I took these in the 1960s.
Sir Peter’s design entitled 'Everybody Razzle Dazzle' covers the Mersey Ferry 'Snowdrop' with a distinctive pattern in monochrome and colour, transforming the vessel into a moving artwork as it continues its service. This is the third in the series of Dazzle Ship commissions and the first to be a working vessel.
Unlike other forms of camouflage, dazzle camouflage works not by concealing but by baffling the eye, making it difficult to estimate a target’s range, speed and direction. Realised in monochrome and colour, each ship’s dazzle pattern was unique in order to avoid making classes of ships instantly recognisable to enemy U-boats and aircraft.
Even some doors in the Birkenhead Ferry terminal have been 'dazzled'.
Sir Peter Blake has a strong relationship with Liverpool which includes his famous design of The Beatles’s album cover, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967.
That would be a fun job!!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant but I'm glad I don't have to look at it too often: I'd get a headache.
ReplyDeleteWow, i like that!
ReplyDeleteI don't think it would ever have occurred to me to think of it as a kind of camouflage! but yes, I can see that it does kind of work like that... It's hard to quite grasp what it is that one is looking at! Interesting, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteIt looks more like the 1960s than wartime to me, which is probably just as well!! :)
ReplyDeleteActually, I like the old colour scheme better.
ReplyDelete