# It cannot get too dark...unless your name is Anish Kapoor **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-cannot-get-too-dark-unless-your-name-is-anish-kapoor/830702 "2019-03-07T16:41:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-cannot-get-too-dark-unless-your-name-is-anish-kapoor/830702/1 "2019-03-07T16:41:33Z")
Believe it or not, I was looking for some cheap walking shoes when I stumbled upon paint sale/grudge match on Amazon. When I went to the site to start searching this morning, the first page was [this one, selling what is supposed to be the flattest black matte acrylic paint in existence](https://www.amazon.com/Stuart-Semple-mattest-flattest-acrylic/dp/B0758GKKGZ/ref=asc_df_B0758GKKGZ/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198100706044&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16592855759653859619&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=200618&hvtargid=pla-408434552124&psc=1), and in the description of said paint was this: > [@](#): > > \*Note: By adding this product to your cart you confirm 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 WTF? So I did a little research and found [this article](https://news.artnet.com/art-world/stuart-semple-blackest-black-anish-kapoor-1452259) describing the reason behind the feud between Stuart Semple and Anish Kapoor. Apparently, this feud extends to who had the pinkest pink, also. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-cannot-get-too-dark-unless-your-name-is-anish-kapoor/830702/2 "2019-03-07T16:56:58Z")
Interesting article, thanks! Things are so strange on this planet. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-cannot-get-too-dark-unless-your-name-is-anish-kapoor/830702/3 "2019-03-07T17:02:45Z")
FYI, Anish Kapoor is the artist responsible for [Cloud Gate](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Chicago_grand_park_ouda.jpg), the mirrored Bean in a Chicago park. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-cannot-get-too-dark-unless-your-name-is-anish-kapoor/830702/4 "2019-03-07T17:09:33Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > FYI, Anish Kapoor is the artist responsible for [Cloud Gate](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Chicago_grand_park_ouda.jpg), the mirrored Bean in a Chicago park. Been there, done that, loved it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-cannot-get-too-dark-unless-your-name-is-anish-kapoor/830702/5 "2019-03-07T17:13:53Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Interesting article, thanks! > > Things are so strange on this planet. Ummmm, do you have permission to use that silver? ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-cannot-get-too-dark-unless-your-name-is-anish-kapoor/830702/6 "2019-03-07T17:15:33Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > FYI, Anish Kapoor is the artist responsible for [Cloud Gate](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Chicago_grand_park_ouda.jpg), the mirrored Bean in a Chicago park. Yep, which is actually relevant. Kapoor is a materials artist, and part of his work is that he makes some things that are simply unique to look at. Cloud Gate is an excellent example. It sounds really simple on paper, but the ability to have such a massive, clean, mirrored object that has withstood Chicago’s weather and a constant mob of tourists without being permanently damaged in any real sense took impressive engineering. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-cannot-get-too-dark-unless-your-name-is-anish-kapoor/830702/7 "2019-03-07T17:24:32Z")
From the article: “Black 3.0 is “the blackest, the mattest paint in the known universe,” Semple said in the Kickstarter video for the new paint, which reportedly absorbs up to 99 percent of all light, compared to 99.96 percent for the original Vantablack.” Well I’m no mathamatician, and these artistic types probably aren’t scientists, but something doesn’t seem right. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-cannot-get-too-dark-unless-your-name-is-anish-kapoor/830702/8 "2019-03-07T17:38:19Z")
“There’s something about this that’s so black, it’s like how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black.” - Nigel Tufnel ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-cannot-get-too-dark-unless-your-name-is-anish-kapoor/830702/9 "2019-03-07T18:20:46Z")
> [@gregorio](#): > > From the article: > > “Black 3.0 is “the blackest, the mattest paint in the known universe,” Semple said in the Kickstarter video for the new paint, which reportedly absorbs up to 99 percent of all light, compared to 99.96 percent for the original Vantablack.” > > Well I’m no mathamatician, and these artistic types probably aren’t scientists, but something doesn’t seem right. See the Amazon listing description. It’s not the blackest paint that is also matte. It’s the most matte paint that is black. And unlike Vantablack, it’s a simple paint purchasable by anyone with $20, and not an arrangement of carbon nanotubes that would cost you $$$. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-cannot-get-too-dark-unless-your-name-is-anish-kapoor/830702/10 "2019-03-07T18:51:04Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > …it’s a simple paint purchasable by anyone with $20… Except Anish Kapoor. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-cannot-get-too-dark-unless-your-name-is-anish-kapoor/830702/11 "2019-03-07T18:53:18Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > FYI, Anish Kapoor is the artist responsible for [Cloud Gate](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Chicago_grand_park_ouda.jpg), the mirrored Bean in a Chicago park. That’s interesting too. Cloud Gate is one of the few works of art I actually “get”. > [@kayaker](#): > > Ummmm, do you have permission to use that silver? You see my name on it, don’t you? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-cannot-get-too-dark-unless-your-name-is-anish-kapoor/830702/12 "2019-03-07T19:14:04Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > Yep, which is actually relevant. Kapoor is a materials artist, and part of his work is that he makes some things that are simply unique to look at. Cloud Gate is an excellent example. It sounds really simple on paper, but the ability to have such a massive, clean, mirrored object that has withstood Chicago’s weather and a constant mob of tourists without being permanently damaged in any real sense took impressive engineering. That’s something I have often wondered about. I thought that when I had looked into it, that the “artists” of most monumental arts did not set out all of the specifications to construct their work but, instead, depended on fabricators. [Here’s](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/22/t-magazine/art-fabricators.html) just one article that came up on a quick google. And [here’s](https://www.thefabricator.com/article/arcwelding/metal-fabricating-in-a-new-millennium) one about Cloud Gate. Was there on Sunday. Pretty cool. And folk really love it.