vantablack can absorb 99.965 percent of the light that hits it. because it absorbs so much light, it looks very dark and black. in 2014, it was the blackest black thing in the world. it could make a flat circle look like a deep hole. artist anish kapoor thought vantablack would be good in art. in 2016, kapoor made a deal with surrey nanosystems. he bought the exclusive rights to use vantablack in art. this means kapoor is the only artist allowed to use that black paint.