There is a new update in the hilarious and beautifully petty feud between artists Stuart Semple and Anish Kapoor over Vantablack, the blackest black paint ever made.
For those who are unfamiliar with this story, we have a previous Weird Stories you can read about it titled “Hello darkness, my old friend,” or you can just read the following cliff notes here.
In 2016, British sculptor Anish Kapoor claimed the exclusive right to make art with a color called Vantablack, a shade of black so dark that it absorbs 99.96 percent of light and was intended to be used by the military and astronauts. This angered the art community, especially British artist Stuart Semple, who responded by making the pinkest pink, yellowest yellow, greenest green and most glittery glitter. Semple put all of these items up for sale to everyone except Anish Kapoor (you actually have to declare that you are not Anish Kapoor and that your paint won’t wind up in the hands of Anish Kapoor if you want to buy it). Semple ultimately failed, as around the end of last year Kapoor posted a photo on Instagram of his middle finger coated in the pink paint he was banned from using.
However, Semple’s not giving up.
Rather than trying to bring the lord of darkness down with rainbows, Semple is now fighting fire with fire in the form of a new black paint of his own which he calls “Black 2.0.” On his website, Semple calls the paint “the most pigmented, flattest, mattest, black acrylic paint in the world.”
The webpage for Black 2.0 contains more than a few not-so-subtle jabs at Kapoor and his Vantablack including a description of the paint having a “Vantastic black hole type effect” and of course the condition that if you buy Black 2.0, you confirm that you are not Anish Kapoor and you aren't at all affiliated with him.
It’s been reported that while Semple’s Black 2.0 isn’t quite as black as the blackest of all blacks, Vantablack, it’s still very black and can even make 3D objects appear flat like Vantablack does. Oh, and it also smells like black cherries so, you know, take that Kapoor.
So Stuart Semple, our knight in glittery pink armor, has embraced the darkness. Thanks to this long-fought (and remarkably British) battle, the people of the world can finally make their bedroom into a black abyss and listen to “The Wall” on repeat like I’m sure we all want to do deep down.
Was this just Semple seeing an opportunity to make money and get his name out there or is he actually passionate about getting the blackest black pant into the hands of artists around the world? I don’t have the answer, but I think either way we are all winners because we got to witness a hilarious feud, complete with rises and falls, drama and comedy and a big British middle finger coated in pink paint. It has everything you need for a good story.
Keep reading The Daily Gamecock to find out if Anish Kapoor strikes back because if he does we will surely let you know. Also keep reading because my next goal is to buy some Black 2.0 and release an issue of the paper where the entire A&C section is coated in black. I’ll talk to our staff and see what I can do. Fingers crossed.
Black 2.0 is available for purchase at culturehustle.com for £11.99.