the search for the "blackest black" I
December 2016, sculptor Anish Kapoor—of Cloud Gate, or Chicago’s “Bean,” fame—scandalized the art world by posting an Instagram picture of his middle finger dipped in pink paint. He was furious because he had been banned from using this particular shade of pink by another contemporary artist, Stuart Semple, as retaliation against Kapoor for buying exclusive rights to use a special black paint. To some people, this seemed like much ado about nothing. Why so publicly and dramatically feud over black paint? This paint, though, was not just any black paint—it was Vantablack, which was, at the time, the darkest substance created by humanity.15 To understand why Vantablack was so valuable and had such a high profile, we must first understand what made this “blackest black” so desirable by examining the work of physicist Gustav Kirchhoff. In an 1860 paper, Kirchhoff formulated his law of thermal radiation, n
wonyoung jang is a second-year student double-majoring in English Language & Literature and Gender & Sexuality Studies. Although most of his academic interests––which are admittedly amorphous––lie in modernist literature, pedagogy, and feminist and queer theory, he is casually interested (read: is too lazy to pursue them in earnest) in many disparate topics, from music theory to quantum physics. Outside of class, Wonyoung can be found singing with his a cappella group The Ransom Notes, teaching in Chicago schools, and participating in quizbowl. He also enjoys cooking, listening to country music, and running along the lake as the sun rises. 46
THE TRIPLE HELIX Winter 2020
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