horizon black creates new blackest black objects, and you can actually own them

in the past few years, artists and scientists alike have been working to develop some of the darkest known substances. the current record for the blackest black is held by MIT engineers, who, in 2019, collaborated with artist diemut strebe to create a material 10 times blacker than anything before. but what if you could actually get your hands on one of the darkest objects in the known universe? that’s where ‘horizon black’ comes in, and a kickstarter campaign led by tristan thompson to bring ultra-black objects to the market.

images and video courtesy of horizon black

the horizon black team has spent years in research and development to create a material that absorbs 99.9% of visible light. the new black is created by growing a nanoscale array of inorganic molecules on a specially etched aluminum substrate using a chemical deposition process. the shape and arrangement of molecules within these arrays allow them to trap the vast majority of incoming photons and then radiate that energy out in the form of heat, rather than reflecting it as light.

horizon black MINI (without display case)

pieces are available in three sizes (45mm, 100mm and 200mm) and each one comes fixed in a lucite acrylic display case with a removable transparent lid. it’s also possible to get the 200mm size without the display case, for use in artwork or for experimentation. prices range from £59 to £259.

horizon black MINI

the team is currently leveraging the support of the kickstarter community to fund their first full-scale production run of the new black. if you’d like to receive your own ultra-black object, you can support them here.

horizon black MINI

MINI (top left), MAX (bottom left), and void (right)

available sizes

features

a comparison of relative blackness

experimental horizon black sculpture, alongside the original

project info:

name: horizon black
design: tristan thompson

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom