The pop artist Sir Peter Blake will let his art be remixed by users of a new app inspired by the “dazzle art” painted on British ships during the first world war, in the hope of confusing German U-boats.
Dazzle It was commissioned as part of the commemorations for the war’s centenary, and has been released as a free app for Android and for iOS devices.
The app blends people’s own photos with dazzle-art designs created by Blake and other artists, then displays them on virtual boats – and even a rubber duck – which can then be viewed in the real world using its augmented-reality features.
Blake’s contribution comes from his commission to create a new design, Everybody Razzle Dazzle, for the Mersey Ferry Snowdrop in Liverpool earlier in 2015, as part of a series of art commissions marking the centenary.
Fellow artist Tobias Rehberger’s dazzle artwork for the HMS President ship, currently on show in London, is also one of the designs available within the app.
Blake said he hoped the app would help aspiring artists “discover more about the way in which early 20th century artists participated in the war effort”.
The organisation that commissioned both the installations and the app, 14-18 Now, said it hoped the app would raise awareness of the material among people who will not visit London or Liverpool while the ships were on display.
Earlier in the year, Blake described the process of redesigning a Mersey ferry, the Snowdrop, including his fears about the potential response from Liverpudlians.
“I was slightly nervous that there might be some diehards who’d think I’d messed it up, they preferred the old livery,” he told the Guardian . “But I was very respectful of it – I checked things like whether I was okay to change the funnel.”
