I remembered hearing about Vantablack some time ago. Like most, I have no idea what “it” means—not to me, nor to the world generally. Which I suppose makes the lede on this article so apt.

Intriegued, I read on and was met with an interesting coincidence right there, in the first paragraph:

It was February, and the art world was outraged. The exclusive artistic rights to Vantablack, the blackest material created by man ... had been granted to the British sculptor Anish Kapoor.

I met Anish the day this was published. I shook his hand, looked him dead in the eyes and for the life of me couldn't remember anything at all about Vantablack. We had a nice, short conversation about—what every person in London can reliably speak about without exception—the weather, the U.S. election results and how he was doing these days.

Next time, I guess.