Before exploring how black and white speak, let’s first deal with the “elephant in the room.” Some of you may have seen the title of this post and said, “But wait, [black or white] isn’t a color, it’s the absence of all colors!” If that’s you, we suggest that you keep reading.
Black and blue: registered and exclusive colors?
In the art world, color is a tool but also a support; for some artists like Kapoor or Klein, color sometimes even becomes matter, and its symbolism prevails over its chromatic value. And when artists exploit an exclusive color, so much so that it becomes their trademark and we think that this color is registered, we can ask ourselves if it is legally the color or its symbolism that unleashes passions in this color war.
In 2016 Anish Kapoor provokes the anger of artists by purchasing the license to use Vantablack, the most absolute black in the world, which absorbs 99.965% of colors. Kapoor has since been accused of monopolizing a fundamental color without sharing this discovery with other artists. Originally, Vantablack was not created by Kapoor himself but in collaboration with Surrey Nanosystems, an English company that first developed this technology for use in the aerospace field, for telescopes and satellites. This black substance is actually neither a color nor a paint but a technology, it is also perfectly waterproof, which makes it a coating that also interests the army.
Technologically speaking, Vanta stands for Vertically aligned nanotubes arrays. Nanotubes 10,000x thinner than a hair are tightly packed like trees in a forest; they block the light and prevent it from reflecting, absorbing all the volumes, details and reflections. Once applied and then cooked to create havoc in the tubes and make them even more blocking, the eyes perceive only the void: we see only a black hole, without volumes or depth, “it is a physical thing that you can not see, which gives it a transcendental dimension, I find it captivating,” says Anish Kapoor who seeks through his work to detach the work of the artist’s hand.
Descent into limbo, 1992, Anish Kapoor – Serralves, Porto, 2018
Is black blacklisted (because Anish Kapoor has exclusive rights to it)
The British artist has collaborated with scientists to use this black-void in art, being the “ideal artist” chosen for this project. It is the company that owns the technological patent, and Kapoor simply the license for exclusive use in the field of art. Kapoor has therefore no merit as an artist in the creation of this material. He nevertheless claims his exclusive rights on this abysmal black: to let the use of this technology to other artists would be like asking a manufacturer to give the plans of a registered design, he defends himself. He has worked in the same way for the creation of stainless metal for other sculptures, among others: first come, first served.
Œuvres d’Anish Kapoor
Kapoor has not filed a patent for this substance or for a specific color and does not legally prevent other artists from using it . but finally the nuance is small and above all, the result is the same! This exclusivity of use has provoked the reaction of Stuart Semple, a British artist who hastened to create “the pinkest pink” and expressly prevented the sale to Anish Kapoor, launching a color war between the two artists. To push further his desire to make the use of this kind of color accessible to all artists, and to provoke Kapoor again, he launched his “blackest black” sold to all . except to the artist of Vantablack.
Even blacker blacks
In fact, this black was created based on the research of a team of scientists and colleagues of the artist Frederik de Wilde who claims to have created another blacker black in collaboration with Nasa, the NANOblck. We haven’t found any information regarding the patenting of this technology, which surely must be, but if you’re looking to use blacker than black, the best thing to do is to get some from Culture Hustle, Stuart Semple’s website (which also offers a spectral color that reacts to heat).
Frederik de Wilde, horizontal depth3, 2018 : “it is not where we die, it is where we are born”
This war of black has prompted other scientists to develop their own recipe. Recently, in 2019, artist Diemut Streb, on the other hand, created the work entitled “Vanity Redemption” by covering a 16.78-carat yellow diamond (estimated at $2 million) with the blackest black in the world, in collaboration with a technology using carbon nano-tubes, and the MIT Center for Art, Science and Technology.
Vanity Redemption, Diemut Streb , 2019
This technology will be available to artists, which should redeem the sin of vanity of Anish Kapoor. The “redemption” here bears its name well!
The particularity and the symbolism of black make it a primordial “color”.
But the reasons for this anger and this war of artists are above all that Anish Kapoor did not choose just any color, he chose the one that, with red, has the most symbolic value in the eyes of humans. Black is the matrix color of the beginnings of the world before the “let there be light”, of the infinite, of the absence of everything. It is the color of darkness and then of the consumed fire, which appeals to our primitive origins: black represents, as Orpheus sings, the “mothers of gods and men, origin of all created things”. Since the beginning of the world, the mystery of life and the sacred womb of the mothers, at the origin of humanity, were celebrated in caves and dark places. Black is therefore the primary color of all the stories of the creation of the world, everywhere in the world. Black is thus the harbinger of the beginnings, of an evolution and a transformation, because it exists only in opposition to white, to light. It is the color of renunciation, of the imprisoned body, of death, and of the alchemical black work, announcing an evolution of the body towards the light of the spirit, of knowledge. Black has thus given its symbolism of renunciation and light to come to the religious and puritan austerity, giving birth to minimalism and then to luxury, as a classic color par excellence.
Black is not scientifically a color because it absorbs all colors and does not emit any light. It is defined since its origins and by the language not by its chromatic value but by the matter which it covers and its luminosity : one spoke of black in the plural by confusing it with blue or green in Greek or Roman languages at the time when it was complicated to dye in black, or by defining it in two different ways, matte black (ater, at the origin of the word “atrocious” in Latin, or swart in German) disturbing and deadly black, and the brilliant black (niger in Latin or blaek in German) luminous, instrument of knowledge, as explained by Michel Pastoureau in his book Noir, histoire d’une couleur. Blaeck and blank (black and white) have the same Germanic etymology, blik-an, which means shining. By appropriating the use of this material of the void, Anish Kapoor has also appropriated all its symbolism, fundamental in the quest to represent the mystery of humanity or spirituality.
The Klein blue is not a registered color
When Yves Klein deposited his famous blue, he was also -and well before Kapoor- in this process of searching for a transcendental color, symbolizing not matter but the spirit, the immaterial. This is also the path followed by the Russian suprematist Kasimir Malevich 40 years before him, without being able to find a black as deep as Vantablack or NANOblck – which would probably have obsessed him just as much!
Yves Klein developed his IKB (International Klein Blue) with the help of a hardware dealer, Edouard Adam, and registered it on May 19, 1960 under a Soleau envelope. Better known as “Bleu Klein”, it is not however a color that is registered here either, but the scientific mixture that leads to this shade and rendering of “blue beyond dimension”. Blue is, like black, the color of the infinite, but symbolizes the sky, the dream, the “blood of sensitivity body” as Klein says. It is not, unlike black, the symbol of the body or death but of the spirit, of escape. Klein made it his trademark, his signature color, although he did not work only with blue.
We notice that for the three artists mentioned in this article, it is not only the monochrome but also the round shape that stands out. This round shape is also highly symbolic because it is one of the oldest shapes in the world: it refers to the moon, a star venerated by the ancients, to nature in its entirety, it is the roundness of the womb of the woman who gives life, a symbol of completeness, union, perfection and balance.
Untitled blue monochrome, 1959 © Succession Yves Klein c/o ADAGP, Paris
Untitled blue monochrome, 1958, © Succession Yves Klein c/o ADAGP Paris
To return to Klein blue, for a long time, blue was made with lapis lazuli, a semi-precious stone which made it an exorbitantly expensive dye reserved for the nobility, before it could be produced synthetically. In his IKB formula, Klein combined a synthetic ultramarine blue (which he found in paint stores) with a special binder recommended by the hardware store (Rhodopas, manufactured at the time by Rhône-Poulenc) which allowed him to fix the pigments while maintaining the powdered effect that gave it an exceptional and pure depth, to enhance his artistic research. This particular mixture and without oil allows to keep the pulverized pigments with their velvety aspect without binding them together, while fixing them on a support.
Ex-voto dedicated to Saint Rita of Cascia by Yves Klein, 1961 – Monastère de Sainte Rita, Cascia, Italie – © Adagp, Paris 2007
Yves Klein thus obtains “the most perfect expression of blue” which allows him to render the immaterial visible, to access the absolute and to transcend the flesh in an artistic, spiritual and alchemical quest embodied in the pink, blue and golden Holy Trinity. His pink Monopink™ seems to be a registered trademark (hence the trademark) but it does not seem here that it is the color that is registered but rather the principle of the pink monochrome, the artist having also registered the Monogold which is a monochrome with gold leaf, gold being a material and not a protected color.
Klein, in his approach, has therefore registered a technology similar to that of Kapoor, but by registering a single shade of blue (and not blue in its entirety) and a monochromatic concept, linked to a plastic and spiritual approach.
We can easily understand the limits raised by the fact of registering a technology on the creation and the use of a color by artists, but what about in the field of trademarks? Is it legally possible to register a color, and make it your visual signature? This is what we talk about in our article on color and trademarks.
A Brief History of the Color Black
The color black was one of the first colors used in art. Prehistoric humans used black to depict images of bulls and other animals in cave paintings in Lascaux Cave in France. To make their paintings, prehistoric artists first used charcoal then burnt bones and manganese oxide powder to produce a darker pigment.
Black had an important meaning to the ancient Egyptians who associated the color with fertility, the rich black soil of the Nile , and the color of the god Anubis. The ancient Greeks also valued this dark color and used it on their pottery. Ancient Roman magistrates wore black or dark togas to funeral ceremonies.
In the Middle Ages, black was associated with darkness and evil. In paintings during this period, the Devil was often portrayed as a humanoid with black fur or skin and wings.
Benedictine monks wore black robes during the 12 and 13th centuries. It was also around this time that black ink from China was traditionally used for writing due to its darker color.
Black never really became a common color for wardrobe until the 14th century when better and darker black dyes were invented. Suddenly, magistrates and government officials began wearing the color as a sign of their importance and seriousness.
When printing became possible in the 15th century, printers used black ink made from soot, turpentine, and walnut oil. It was also around this time when nobles wore black sable fur imported from Russia and Poland.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, black became a prominent color for the rulers and the Protestant Reformation in Europe as well as the Puritans in England and America. Rembrandt used a somber palette of blacks and browns to depict figures emerging from the darkness expressing the deepest human emotions.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, black first receded as a color for fashion until after the French Revolution. Black also became the color for a different kind of revolution as coal and oil-fueled industrial machines slowly turned city buildings black. For the first time, the color became available, and quite popular, to the masses due to the invention and industrial manufacturing of inexpensive synthetic black dyes.
In the 20th and 21st centuries, black continued its popularity in art and fashion. By this time, it had also become an important color to various political and social organizations across the globe.
Black Colors: Psychology and Meaning
Artists have used black since prehistoric times. It isn’t surprising then that black has become an important color in various cultures around the world.
What is surprising, though, are the different symbols and associations this color stands for.
As mentioned earlier, black is the color of mourning and bereavement in some countries, especially in the West. A tragic day, week, or month is often referred to as a “black day” (or week or month). In the financial world, the term refers to sudden drops in the stock market, such as the one in 1929 that marked the start of the Great Depression.
Another Western symbolism for the color black is its association with evil and darkness. This color is often linked to the Devil, witchcraft, and black magic. In the Book of Revelation, the first horseman, representing famine, is said to arrive on a black horse.
Black is also associated with power, law, authority, and solemnity. In many countries, black is often the color chosen by magistrates and government officials. It’s also the usual color of fashion for formal and solemn occasions.
In recent times, black has become a symbol of functionality. Today, we often see black as the color of mystery, elegance, power, and sophistication as well as for sadness and anger.
Shades of Black
So, now that you know about the history and symbolism of the color black, let’s move on to its various shades. A shade of black is always a pure black in itself while a tint of black is a neutral gray.
As of the writing of this article, there are currently 16 shades of the color black.
Here are just a few of them:
1. Ebony
Ebony is a grayish olive green color. This variation of black was made to represent the color of the tropical hardwood of the same name.
2. Charcoal
Charcoal is characterized by its dark grayish blue color .
As you may have guessed, it’s made to represent the color of burnt wood.
3. Onyx
Onyx is a greenish-black color. As the name suggests, onyx was made to represent the precious gem of the same name. Onyx was part of Crayola’s specialty crayon set called “Gem Tones”, introduced in 1994.
4. Black Olive
Black olive, or simply “olive”, is a dark grayish olive green color.
Made to represent the color of black olives, this color was known as No. 6015, in the RAL color matching system, widely used in Europe.
5. Jet Black
Jet black, or simply “jet”, is a pure black color. This color was made to represent the color of the mineraloid of the same name.
6. Charleston Green
Charleston green is characterized by its blackish green color .
This color originated after the American Civil War when the North provided black paint to the South for use in its reconstruction.
7. Licorice
Licorice, also known as “light black”, is another pure black color but with a lighter shade. As its name suggests, this color was made to represent licorice candy.
Understanding Black and White Color Theory
In terms of light frequencies (additive color theory), white is the presence of all colors and is, therefore, a color. Black is not; without light everything is black. However, when thinking about color in terms of physical pigments (subtractive color theory), like paint, the tables turn; white is not considered a color while black is the presence of all colors. You can learn more about this on the Color Matters website. With color theory and your opinion of what is and isn’t a color aside, we would all agree and accept that black and white are indeed colors. After all, we describe them as such. And let’s face it; if anyone tries to tell you that black and white are not colors, what would they say if you ask them what colors a zebra is.
How Black Speaks
Black is visually heavy. Its message is therefore very strong. Black’s most common association is power, authority, and strength. It is for this reason that too much black can become overwhelming. In stories of good versus evil black and darkness are always symbolic of the villain (Darth Vader being a prime example). Other associations of black include intelligence (black horn-rimmed glasses), professionalism (suit and briefcase), mourning, and mystery. As a deep and serious color, black can direct communication in a powerful way.
How White Speaks
White is considered safe and open. While black is symbolic of evil, white is directly linked to that which is righteous, good, and peaceful (sticking with the Star Wars theme, Luke Skywalker is an effective example). Furthermore, white projects clarity, cleanliness (doctors in white coats), purity (wedding dresses), and salvation. White is said to promote creative thought (a blank whiteboard) and is also synonymous with fresh beginnings. As a positive, clear, and open color, white can direct communication in a powerful way.
Cultural Associations
History and culture shed light on how black-and-white associations have become so easily accepted as being in opposition. The most recognized example of this is represented in the Taoist Yin-Yang symbol, an embodiment of contrary forces (good and evil) that are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world. In martial arts, the black belt signifies the highest rank (power), while the white belt represents someone who would run screaming from the person with the black belt. In Aztec culture, black represented war because the black obsidian glass was used as the cutting edge of battle swords. In battle, a white flag is universally recognized as a symbol of surrender. Black is evil; white is good. Black traps space, while white opens space. Black evokes sophistication; white communicates innocence. It’s clear: black and white are opposites.
Designing With Black
This simple ad for Ralph Lauren’s Polo Black uses black in an overwhelming, yet purposeful way. The ad is dark and strong, targeting men. Furthermore, it is serious and professional, communicating qualities of mystery and depth.
Designing With White
Apple has consistently used white as the backdrop of their marketing campaigns and for good reason. The company emphasizes through their primarily white design that they care about cleanness, openness, and creative thought. This Apple iPad ad is a perfect example.
Designing With Black and White to Compete
It’s important to recognize that although quintessentially opposite in a cultural and visual sense, black and white shouldn’t compete, but rather complete when used in professional marketing. It’s been said that “opposites attract.” To put it another way: contrast creates completion. The convergence of black and white (more so than any other color combination) is an example of how two divergent colors communicate more powerfully together than they do on their own. Check out the balance, peace, and clarity of this site.
Designing With Black and White to Accent
Using the visual balance of black and white with an accent color leads to powerful messaging and is a helpful strategy when wanting to draw attention to a specific object or creating a visual “pop.” These black-and-white sites do just that. By accenting certain parts of the page with a different color, they direct the viewer exactly where they want them to go. Even though black and white are used far more than any other color, it’s easy to overlook how they are used and even why they are used. For instance, when black text is used on a white background we don’t question why this is the case. But, this practice is so common because the contrast of black on white is the most readable and practical color scheme. The influence that black and white have is subconscious. Therefore it is important to carefully consider the substantial impact they will inevitably have on your communication.
Continue the Conversation
We’ve merely scratched the surface of how black and white communicate. The conversation could go on and on about how these colors impact our minds and attitudes. So, why not continue the conversation? Share some of your experience with black and white. What are some other associations with black and white that we didn’t talk about? Stay tuned as we continue to explore the complex nature of a specific color each month and its impacts on our attitudes within today’s culture and economy.
