Science, art and dystopian fiction come together in a fascinating new project that puts a highly appropriate heat-sensitive twist on Ray Bradbury’s classic novel, Fahrenheit 451. Charles Nypels Laboratory, which is part of Holland’s Jan van Eyck Academie, an institute for fine art and design, collaborated with graphic design collective Super Terrain to create a very special edition of the book. Check out the effect in their video below.
Made in a lab, the pages are coated in thermochromic pigment, which disappears when a flame is held close to it (but not too close – you don’t want to actually reenact a major plot point of Fahrenheit 451, in which all books are contraband, and any that are found must be burned by ‘firemen.’) In the comments on the Instagram post, the designers note that the book will turn black again once it cools down, so you’d use a whole lot of lighter fluid (or matches) to read the whole thing.
“This week our colleagues from Super Terrain are working in the Lab as a last stop on their all-over-Europe printing adventures,” says the Charles Nypel Lab on Instagram. “They showed us this remarkable book they made ‘Fahrenheit 451.’”
(h/t My Modern Met)
