Anish Kapoor is such a hack….latest Biennale exhibition and he’s still banging on about Vantablack and his beef with Stuart Semple, even ripping off his work AND insulting him.
Really at this point I can’t work out how Anish got famous, there’s not really much there is there? I do find it funny that Stuart is selling a replica version of his work called Biennale In A Box…I suspect this beef will rumble on, but yes, I do think Anish should just drop it.
But beyond that there is a discussion about whether artists can exclusively license a colour – it’s not completely unknown – the infamous IKB (International Klein Blue) was a guarded secret and he registered the process but he didn’t patent the colour.
In fact it’s not possible to patent a colour itself but you can patent the process – and in the case like a technological advance like Vantablack – now egotistically called Kapoor Black, that’s a real barrier for anyone else unless they invent a rival process.
So yes, Anish Kapoor can only use Vantablack, and is still a complete dick about it.
And tbh I am not that impressed with the work at the Biennale – I mean circles and squares painted with the ‘blackest black‘? That’s just lazy, relying on the paint’s technology rather than adding anything yourself, feels like low-hanging fruit and literally surface – or lack of it – over meaning.
And don’t get me started on the Goya/Bacon/Chapman Brothers ripping red-gore series. We have been here before.
Sadly I can’t really afford Stuart’s Culture Hustle materials – I’d love to try WINK as many white inks are indeed quite shit and not opaque, but at £17 inc shipping for a 30ml bottle it’s beyond my price range. Maybe if I find myself anywhere near his shop/studio I can get it directly.
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