Earlier this year, a group of scientists made an astonishing claim: they had discovered a new color, one that humans could only perceive under very specific, laser-assisted laboratory conditions. According to their research, this color couldn’t exist in nature, couldn’t be printed, couldn’t be painted.

It could only live inside the mind, triggered by precision lasers aimed directly into the retina.

It sounded like something out of science fiction. A secret color, hidden from the normal spectrum, accessible only through a risky, high-tech experiment.

The idea caught fire on social media, sparking everything from wonder to skepticism to a kind of resigned frustration: another incredible thing only scientists could experience — not artists, not the public.

Enter Stuart Semple.

The British artist, long known for waging creative wars over access to colors, decided that if science wouldn’t share this discovery with the world, he would find a way to give it to the people — or at least, to those who really care about color: artists.

Now, in true Semple fashion, he’s unveiled his own version of the “unseeable” color.

It costs $10,000 if you’re just curious.

But if you’re a practicing artist?

It’s yours — for free.

This isn’t just about pigment.

It’s a battle over who controls creativity, who defines possibility, and what it means to “own” the visual world.

The Science: A Color Beyond Human Perception?

First, let’s get clear on what the scientists actually claimed.

Earlier this year, a team from MIT published a paper detailing how they engineered a new perceptual experience by shining two lasers at different wavelengths directly into subjects’ eyes.

Instead of blending into a predictable new color, the light was processed separately by the brain, creating a “forbidden hue” — something outside the normal visible color space.

These hues aren’t part of the traditional RGB (red-green-blue) or CMYK (cyan-magenta-yellow-black) color models we know.

They exist in a kind of mental limbo, combining contradictory signals in a way that normal vision simply doesn’t do.

The catch?

You can’t bottle it.

You can’t paint it.

You can only experience it through lasers calibrated precisely to hit specific retinal cones at specific angles.

According to the scientists, this meant ordinary pigments could never recreate it.

A thrilling discovery — but also a deeply frustrating one for anyone outside of a research lab.

Stuart Semple’s Mission: Democratize Color

If you know anything about Stuart Semple, you know that he does not take kindly to the idea that color should be exclusive.

Semple gained worldwide fame in 2016 when artist Anish Kapoor acquired exclusive rights to Vantablack, the darkest black substance ever created.

In response, Semple created the “Pinkest Pink”, a vibrantly bright pigment he sold to everyone — except Kapoor.

He followed that with Black 3.0, an ultra-black paint for the public, and LIT, a glow pigment brighter than anything commercially available.

Each time, Semple’s message was the same:

Art belongs to everyone. Color belongs to everyone. Innovation belongs to everyone.

The idea that a new color could exist but only be accessible through medical-grade lasers was an open invitation for Semple to respond.

And respond he did.

“My New Color” by Stuart Semple: Art Fighting Science

Semple’s answer is called “My New Color”, a limited-edition pigment that, according to him, recreates the perceptual effect of the “forbidden hue” without the need for any lasers.

It’s not exactly the same phenomenon as the laboratory experience — how could it be, without direct neural stimulation?

But visually, it produces similar contradictions and shimmering effects.

The color shifts in unexpected ways, seems to hover between defined tones, and “feels” wrong in the best possible way — much like the scientists’ descriptions of their forbidden hues.

How did Semple do it?

• Layered refractive pigments that bend light in subtle ways
• Special coatings that cause optical dissonance
• Saturated base colors tuned to overstimulate rods and cones differently under various lighting

The result is a paintable, viewable, and shareable experience — something that anyone can engage with, not just scientists with million-dollar equipment.

The Price Tag and the Politics of Access

Semple’s decision to price “My New Color” at $10,000 wasn’t just shock value.

It was a deliberate commentary on the gatekeeping inherent in modern innovation.

In his words:

“If scientists want to lock color behind lasers and labs, then fine — I’ll lock it behind $10,000. Unless you’re an artist. Then you get it for free. Because art should be for everyone, and color should be for everyone.”

If you’re a verified practicing artist, Semple will ship you the pigment free of charge — continuing his long-running policy of using barriers ironically, to draw attention to them.

The real point isn’t to sell tubes of pigment for five figures.

The real point is to force the world to think:

Who gets access to beauty?

Who decides what’s shareable?

What is the value of a color you can’t hold?

Reactions: The Art World vs. The Scientific World

As expected, reactions have been split.

• Artists and creatives have largely praised Semple’s move, seeing it as a cheeky, brilliant way to democratize something that initially seemed elitist.
• Scientists and technologists have been more critical, pointing out that Semple’s pigment, while interesting, isn’t a true replication of the laser-induced forbidden hue phenomenon.

Both sides are right — but also missing the deeper truth.

Semple isn’t trying to replicate laboratory conditions.

He’s trying to replicate the sense of wonder, the feeling of seeing something “impossible”, and the power of sharing that experience.

In that sense, he’s succeeded.

The Deeper Issue: Ownership of Color in the 21st Century

This isn’t the first time color has become a contested battleground.

• Vantablack was licensed to a single artist.
• Pantone colors have become proprietary, copyrighted tools of corporate design.
• Digital NFT colors are now being sold as “ownership” tokens.

The idea that anyone can “own” color — something fundamental to human experience — is troubling to many.

Semple’s entire career can be seen as a pushback against that idea.

“My New Color” is just the latest salvo in a much larger war:

Art vs. exclusion. Creativity vs. control. Experience vs. ownership.

In a world increasingly divided between those who have access and those who do not, even the basic building blocks of sight — color — are being commodified.

Semple’s work is a reminder that we should fight for beauty, fight for openness, and fight for the right to experience wonder without a paywall.

Impression

At the end of the day, whether “My New Color” is chemically identical to the forbidden hue discovered by lasers is almost irrelevant.

What matters is the spirit of the act.

Semple took a scientific curiosity locked behind lab walls and turned it into a provocation — an artwork, a statement, and an invitation.

He reminded us that color, like art itself, is something to be shared.

Something to belong to everyone.

Something to be felt, seen, and celebrated, not hidden away as a luxury for the few.

In a world of barriers, Stuart Semple remains one of the rare artists who believes the door should always be open — even if you have to kick it down yourself.

And for that, we owe him more than just $10,000.

We owe him thanks for reminding us that some colors are too important to be kept secret.

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