Dali Planet #146: The Netlon man
The Mill Hill district of Blackburn, northern England, was once heavily industrialised and home to Plastic Textile Accessories Co, the firm for which Brian Mercer invented Netlon, the thermoplastic fabric today found in screens, artificial turf and numerous other handy products.
Awarded an OBE for his discovery, Mercer had licensees making it around the world, including in Cadaques, but he actually met Dali in New York. At a party there Mercer wore spectacles fitted with windscreen wipers. Dali somehow became convinced that it was brain power, not batteries, that made the wipers move.
They became friends and Mercer often visited his home in Port-Lligat, where Dali painted “Portrait of Dr Brian Mercer” in 1973. Mercer left it to Britain’s Royal Society, of which he was a member. Dali once planned to cover his entire museum in Figueras with Netlon.
