Cool Hunting

Jeff Bark: Woodpecker
Jeff Bark's newest works are the subject of his solo show, Woodpecker, at the Michael Hoppen Contemporary Gallery in London; it's his second show at the gallery. Bark's newest works are so multilayered it makes my brain hurt—in the best way possible. The photos feel like part diorama, painting and film. His involved process includes constructing a pond-like set that took over a month...

Doris Salcedo: Shibboleth
The Tate Modern always does an incredible job of reinventing their Great Turbine Hall with large, encompassing installations and with Doris Salcedo's "Shibboleth" they may have outdone themselves. Stretching imagination and the definition of sculpture and installation itself, Salcedo created a subterranean crack in the floor that stretches 584 feet across the entire length of the Hall. The upshot is a jagged abyss that...

Nineteeneightyfouria: Shepard Fairey Interview
Many regard Shepard Fairey as one of the godfathers of the modern urban art scene and he's widely known as one of the hardest working men in the business. His Obey Andre the Giant figure can be found all over the world, oftentimes in some surprising locales. Unique stencil, collage, photography and painting techniques have made him possibly the worlds most well-known street artist....

Ron Mueck: In Bed
The London-based hyper-realist sculptor Ron Mueck's recent intriguing work, "In Bed", is hard to resist. Commentary on scale in architecture is common in a spatial sense, with much of our education revolving around it. Yet as humans, the scale between ourselves seems to be ever increasing. In our own office there is a 50 cm difference in height between the tallest and shortest, a...

Interface Space
Exploring the intimate relationships people have with their computers, Design Observer takes a look at art that comments on the two-dimensional interfaces of modern life. Some work, like Hans Gremmen and Monique Gofer's Empty Trashcan (pictured), translate the screen into sculpture, while others, like Danh Vo's email exchange with artist Robert Gober, makes the everyday design of Hotmail into an art piece. The works...

Dan Flavin Retrospective
Usually reviled by esthetes, fluorescent light tubes become art in Dan Flavin's elegant constructions, the subject of a traveling retrospective currently at the Hayward Gallery in London through 2 April. His sublime use of color (restricted to only a few shades) and minimalist arrangements were often dedicated to people or events, such as untitled (in memory of my father D. Nicholas Flavin) (pictured), which...