COLOUR JOURNEYS (CONT) .
Black Black has many associations; the first is darkness, the absence of light, and in Christian symbolismblack has been used to portray evil, death, depression and Satan. Black magic, the dark arts and black cats, once considered evil and linked to witchcraft, all gave black an ominous reputation that stretched across continents and cultures. universal, mysterious, expensive, authoritive
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Coco Chanel famous for streamlining ladies fashion, emphasised simple understated lines in her clothing and created an elegant black cocktail dress that was published by Vogue in 1926. The little black dress was accessible to all ages, shapes and sizes and became so popular, that it was compared to Henry Ford’smodel T car . Black was also the first pigment to be used in painting since prehistoric times. The readily available charcoal and iron minerals allowed artists to adorn cave walls with their drawings and stories. Some drawings still remain today,
the Lascaux Caves in France were paintedmore than 17,000 years ago, they were discovered comparatively recently in 1940 by a boy venturing out into the countryside. There have beenmany forms of black pigment used for decoration and painting. Ivory black used the charred remains of ivory bones, while lamp black used soot collected from oil lamps. Black ink was the first to be used in text fromamixture of turpentine, soot and walnut oil.
Sumptuary laws in Europe restricted the use of certain coloured cloth and with the creation of good black dyes popularity of black increased and by the seventeenth century professional bankers, judges and doctors adopted black for their uniform. Soon black became synonymous with seriousness, honesty, professionalismand influence. Today black is still symbolic in the business world and a staple colour for many office workers’ wardrobe.
In 2014 Surrey Nanosystems developed Vantablack ® . One of the darkest substances created, it absorbs up to 99.96% of visible light. It has many uses in the aerospace industry, reducing light rays in telescopes and increasing thermal heat on solar panels. Anish Kapoor is the only artist licensed to use the colour for installations and artwork. This angered Stuart Semple somuch he banned Anish Kapoor fromusing the strongest shade of pink that he created. Anish Kapoor retorted with his middle finger dipped in the Semple Pink. Semple then insisted a contract
had to be signed with any sale of his products stating that the bright pigments were not to be for Anish Kapoor’s use. These acts highlight the lengths people go to for colour. Over recent years there has been an increase in black interiors, black walls, finishes and furniture, and contrary to popular belief, small spaces can suit dark interiors. Monotone schemes can be restful and calming when balanced with a sympathetic use of light. A reduction of colour can ensure that the eye has less work to do processing visual information from lots of colour.
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