The Black Tulip

Six modes of black tulip were obtained fromthe Wakefield Tulip Society and photographed. The darkest black on each flower sample was then digitally scanned to specify six colour fields. The digital artwork generated six CMYK colour mappings which represent how the computer ‘sees’ black. Six ‘master’ artists (Callum Innes, David Austen, James Hugonin, David Connearn, Lothar Goetz, Edda Renouf) were invited to select a colour pigment which represented ‘true’ black. These colours were then used to paint six wooden tulips. Alec wrote a collage poem, describing the cultural history of tulips, black tulips, ‘tulipomania’ and processes of genetic modification and economic speculation.

The Black Tulip flowers
The Black Tulip colour fields
The Black Tulip CMYK animation
The Black Tulip painted tulips
The Black Tulip poem