‘Blackest Ink’ Maker Debuts ‘Blackest Black’ Pixel As NFT
By Mikelle Leow, 24 Feb 2022
Image courtesy of “SIX ZEROS” / Stuart Semple, featured with permission
The Robin Hood of color is back and is now headed for the digital world.
For the uninitiated, British artist Stuart Semple is on an ongoing mission to “liberate colors” restricted by the clutches of trademarks and exclusive rights—the most notable of all being Vantablack, the blackest black in the world. When Anish Kapoor secured exclusive access to the pigment, Semple took one for the team and developed an open-source version that any artist can purchase.
Since then, there have been a few updates to the black paint, a rollout for the world’s blackest ink, and now—with the invasion of NFTs: a mintable pitch-black pixel.
Image courtesy of “SIX ZEROS” / Stuart Semple, featured with permission
The NFT, named “SIX ZEROS”, is a single black pixel named after the hex code for pure black.
Accordingly, the artist is releasing a million of these pixels which collectively “turn your screen off” and “emit no light,” a spokesperson for Semple tells DesignTAXI. As such, the NFT “allows you to own nothing at all.”
Dubbed the “digital equivalent of ‘the Blackest Black’” saga, the launch of this collectible takes aim at a controversial NFT project called the Color Museum, which claims to let holders “own” any of its 10,000 RGB hues and promises to grant them royalties whenever an NFT with that color is sold on its platform. Semple’s defiant NFT shuns this attempt to “privatize” colors “previously freely available to all for decades.”
“I’m sick and tired of these dodgy crypto bros and their grifting NFT ponzi schemes. When they start trying to own colors and profiting off them it’s gone too far. Let’s face it, it didn’t end well for the last dude who tried to do this,” says the artist. “Over the last few weeks I’ve been hounded by the internet to respond, to the latest color grinch.”
One million “SIX ZEROS” will be made available from March 1, 2022, at 0.05 ETH (US$123.74) a pop.
As with Semple’s art materials, anyone can purchase a pixel so long as they are not Anish Kapoor or associated with him, and Ethereum holders will need to confirm this by agreeing to a legal disclaimer. They will also have to agree to a wallet check to prove that they do not own any Color Museum NFTs.
[via “SIX ZEROS” / Stuart Semple, featured with permission]