In what could be the final blow in the ongoing ‘Art Wars’, British artist Stuart Semple has unveiled his latest super substance…Enter BLACK 3.0…! BLACK 3.0 is a super special acrylic paint. Stuart and his studio team have spent nearly two years tweaking its formulation to create a pigment that absorbs between 98 and 99% of visible light. Quite simply, they have created the blackest black acrylic paint ever!
To satisfy the paint factory’s minimum mixing amount, the artist launched a Kickstarter campaign, hoping to raise enough funds within a month. And last night he reached out to his online community of artists and friends with a simple ask
“I’m here because we really need your help. I’m hoping that you guys will be generous enough to pre-order your paint and pledge, so we can make BLACK 3.0 available to everyone! We’ve created the blackest black paint, and it’s absolutely phenomenal. This stuff is unbelievable – you won’t believe what it does!”
Kickstarter blew up with pledges, seeing the #ShareTheBlack campaign hit its original £25,000 target almost immediately. In a matter of hours, the campaign raised £40,000, almost double its goal.
You may have followed the story so far…Naughty artist Anish Kapoor secures the exclusive rights to Vantablack, the blackest known substance in the world (but one so complicated and costly nobody would actually be able to use it anyway); Semple’s imagination is sparked, compelling him to create an elaborate piece of internet performance art, tackling the themes of accessibility, equality and elitism head on – starting with the creation of the ‘Pinkest Pink’, available to all but Kapoor; Semple then goes on to launch his own artiest artist material series through www.CultureHustle.com , including the now infamous BLACK 2.0 (the world’s mattest, blackest, non-toxic paint, available to all but Kapoor); this ongoing work is now Semple’s mission: to disseminate revolutionary materials to artists all over the world.
To date, the studio team have shared countless art materials with thousands and thousands of people worldwide: from the world’s most potent light-emitting pigment powder (‘LIT’); to the world’s first not-for-profit watercolour palette (‘PALETTE’), which meant all artists could afford professional watercolours; and even a set of completely compostable plant-based glitters (‘DAZZLE’), making the most dazzling glitters available without harm to the environment through microplastics.
For BLACK 3.0, Stuart wanted a super-flat, ultra-matte black that absorbed almost all visible light. To achieve that, his team went right back to the basics of paint making. And to get the formula spot-on, last November the artist shared a beta batch of BLACK 3.0 with 1000 artists around the world for feedback and thoughts. That information was taken, and the pigment was reformulated into what is now the very best – and blackest – black around!
Until now, it was believed that Nano Blacks had to be absurdly expensive and applied in a science lab. This ground-breaking move literally bottles the void, so that all artists (except one) can safely and easily use a mega black at home and in their studios. And now, thanks to the unbelievable support seen on Kickstarter from artists all over the world, this game-changer can soon be making its way into the hand of every maker, creator and creative out there. Well…almost every hand…apart from this one guy…
“I can’t quite believe how much love there is out there for paint! It’s incredible when the community comes together and decides to do something. I’m so excited to see what people make with this stuff! Thank you so so much!”
Stuart Semple
