Designer and writer John Brownlee recently wrote about scientists “inventing” new colors in labs, including a non-fading blue and yellow, along with an artificial iridescence. My personal favorite, however, is the “blackest black,” called Vantablack.
While it might not be so possible to “invent” a new color, it is very possible to invent new colorants, which are newly created materials. Vantablack was created by Surrey Nanosystems located in England and is made up of millions of vertical nanotubes designed to absorb the light, creating the illusion of a black hole and the appearance of a void. Within the past several months, Vantablack has been engineered into a spray form, so new applications can be developed. Currently, there is one artist in England who owns the exclusive rights to creating vantablack art, but that may change in the coming years. Where will science take artists next?
Elizabeth Cowee's Compositional Blog 