Music
Fans discover beautiful secret in David Bowie's 'Blackstar' album art
by Jesse Locke
May 4, 2016
When placed under sunlight, David Bowie's final album reveals a field of glowing stars.
Leaving your records out in the sun is usually an unfortunate way to end up with an unplayable glob of warped vinyl. It seems the designer of David Bowie’s final album ★ (Blackstar) had something different in mind when he left a beautiful easter egg in the thin sheet of paper that sits directly behind the vinyl release’s die-cut star.
As Redditor ‘BodlyGetting There’ shared, when this paper is placed directly under sunlight (or any kind of bright light), it reveals a field of glowing stars. Once the light source is removed, the stars fade away:
As fellow Redditor ‘telldrak’ pointed out, there may be a hint at this secret with the image of a starfield printed on the opposite side of the vinyl gatefold:
What initially may have seemed like a simple ink bleed does now appear to be an intentional easter egg. As ‘telldrak’ explained:
“This is not burn-in or any sort of chemical change at all. Is it intentional in the design of the album? I’d wager it is, since this thinner paper is not used anywhere else in the cover or liner notes, nor does it seem to serve a purpose in protecting the record, which comes in a thicker translucent plastic sleeve.”
Jonathan Barnbrook, who also designed the artwork for Bowie’s albums Heathen, Reality, and The Next Day recently defended himself against critics of the ★ art in an interview with Dezeen:
“It’s subsided a bit now, but a lot of people said it was a bullshit cover when it came out, that it took five minutes to design,” Barnbrook said. “But I think there is a misunderstanding about the simplicity.”
“This was a man who was facing his own mortality,” he continued. “The Blackstar symbol [★], rather than writing ‘Blackstar,’ has a sort of finality, a darkness, a simplicity, which is a representation of the music. The idea of mortality is in there, and of course the idea of a black hole sucking in everything, the Big Bang, the start of the universe, if there is an end of the universe.”
[h/t The Vinyl Factory]
