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Fly the white dove into the sky…
A TRIBUTE TO LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS: (L-R) Mentor Tracey Emin and Designer Pascal Anson in an elated mood after unveiling the design of BA’s ‘Dove’ aircraft; a model of BA’s ‘Dove’ aircraft and signature of Designer Pascal Anson on the newly-designed plane.
s it a bird, or is it a plane? Well, it is both: a plane painted as a Dove in white and gold. Launched to celebrate the spirit of the London 2012 Olympic Games, BA’s ‘Dove’ has been designed by gay designer and the Kingston University design tutor Pascal Anson from Brighton in southern England, with mentoring from artist Tracey Emin. Nine A319 aircraft with the Olympic design will be flying on European routes over the next year. Anson, one of the winners of BA’s “Great Britons” — a competition that was held to discover hidden British talent — used the plane’s cockpit for the Dove’s beak, the fuselage and wings for the bird’s main body and the tailfin for the tail feathers. The Dove was chosen because they are “internationally recognised as a symbol of peace and social
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unity, and were also used in previous Olympic Games ceremonies, including the last London Games in 1948”, according to the carrier. The choice of the Dove was significant. Pascal said, “I’ve often looked up at aircraft landing and wondered if it’s a bird or a plane, and the idea developed from there.” He also mentioned that “the Dove signifies a positive message wherever you go in the world. I also hope it makes people stop, think and look twice.” Proud of her ‘protégé’, mentor Emin pointed out that the first time she saw “Pascal’s design, it made me smile. I will constantly be looking up every time I hear a plane fly over. The plane is universal. Everyone will understand it.” While a team of 10 people took 950 hours to spraypaint the aircraft, the design has evoked some sharp respons-
CRUISING HEIGHTS May 2012
es. One such came from the art critic of the Guardian, Jonathan Jones. He commented that the Dove was a symbol of the Holy Spirit closely associated with the annunciation. However, though “Pascal Anson has had a beautiful idea”, no one was going to “mistake it for a Dove”. Incidentally, it was a complex project that BA’s operations manager for external appearance, David Barnes, and his team had ever undertaken. The main reason for that was the intricacy of the design: it is difficult to make a plane look like a feathered bird. To top it all, Pascal wanted to use a metallic colour but that was not allowed since metallic paints interfere with radar signals. So, a new mica resin was created for the bright gold finish. Yes, and it was named, ‘Dove Gold’.