^That is Vantablack, a ferocious matte black which absorbs 99.96% of the light that hits it, and no matter what’s underneath Vantablack, it looks flat and completely empty. Vantablack was extremely exciting in artist’s circles when the news first broke, but it had barely broken before Anish Kapoor brokered an exclusivity deal. That didn’t go down well among artists. The world’s blackest black, and only available to one artist? Stuart Semple, another British artist, fought back with the World’s Pinkest Pink, and the Most Glittery Glitter, available to everyone except Kapoor. Now Semple has come out with Black 2.0, his answer to Vantablack 2.0:
Before anyone starts scratching their heads over this, wondering WTF, yes, artists are rather obsessed with black, and in particular, a matte black which will eat light. It’s a thing, what can I say?
Black 2.0 is available to all, except Kapoor.
Now, with the recent release of Vantablack 2.0, which is the world’s newest blackest black, Semple has released his own newest blackest black. Called Black 2.0, Semple calls it “the most pigmented, flattest, mattest, black acrylic paint in the world.” Much like Vantablack, it’s able to turn 3D surfaces into flat-looking holes, but it’s not quite got the staring-into-the-abyss qualities of the original. (Or the laser-eating capabilities of Vantablack 2.0, which the researchers at NanoSystem have said is “so black that our spectrometers can’t measure it!”)
You can read all about the blackest of black wars here.
I want it in spray form. Now. A motorbike can never be too matte or too black.
I’d swear I’d heard about a blackest black being in spray form…yes, I did:
Vantablack spray. Via Cnet.
I did not know about Anish Kapoor or Vantablack until now. And now I know about them, I cannot help thinking that any artist who goes to the trouble of getting exclusive licence on the use of any substance is an asshole.
Charly:
Yep. Kapoor also claims it’s much too difficult to use, but retains the exclusivity.
I want a cloak made of the purest fuligin. And Terminus Est.
Charly@#3:
I believe that Pablo Picasso worked with Sennelier to make his own color palette, and -- in the process -- had them invent cray-pas. But that’s just mixing colors.
I can see that possibly one might want to license a color palette -- after all, that’s what “Ralph Lauren paint” is. There is a value to having a set of harmonizing hues.
But I agree: licensing exclusivity to a color -- that’s just a trick. It’s not the size, it’s what you do with it that counts.
None more black.