British artist Stuart Semple instigated what was dubbed a 'colour war' by in late 2016 releasing his own brand of pink paint, ‘PINK’, said to be the world’s pinkest pigment. PINK is available for £3.99 from www.culturehustle.com – to all but Anish Kapoor.
Artist Anish Kapoor famously acquired exclusive rights to use the world’s blackest black in his art. Developed by NanoSystems, ‘Vantablack’ is composed of a series of microscopic vertical tubes. When light strikes Vantablack, it is continually deflected between the tubes, becoming trapped. The pigment is currently the blackest substance known – so dark that it absorbs 99.96 per cent of light.
Although originally developed for military and astronomic purposes, NanoSystems subsequently confirmed that Kapoor alone had been authorised to use the pigment for artistic purposes. And as Jonathan Jones began when he wrote on the subject for The Guardian, “Colour is precious”.
Purchasers of PINK will be required to make a legal declaration during the online checkout process, confirming that: “you are not Anish Kapoor, you are in no way affiliated to Anish Kapoor, you are not purchasing this item on behalf of Anish Kapoor or an associate of Anish Kapoor. To the best of your knowledge, information and belief this paint will not make its way into that hands of Anish Kapoor.”
In 2017, Semple took things a hilarious step further by bringing out ‘a better BLACK’, declaring a ‘colour amnesty’ with Anish Kapoor.
The whole colour saga has touched the imaginations of many, and has been covered across all platforms, from the mainstream to the art-specific, also spawning a social media movement and the birth of the #sharetheblack hashtag.
TBurnsArts continues to direct the media and social media campaign...which shows no signs of waning.