Edward Burtynsky turned his camera on the Gulf Oil spill as he had previously photographed other industrial disasters. His seemingly benign scenes frequently belie the tragedies behind them. In November, 2005, ArtForum described his chosen sites as "ravaged natural terrain". You can see more of his photography at his own site. Update: the Huffington Post has just published this interview online with Burtynsky.

At SIGGRAPH 2010, Junichi Akita's LED tiles were shown with a laser pointer that you used to write on them. The result is a multitude of shapes and sizes in a fascinating display. For a further description of the process, go to a blog called Core 77, as well as Akita's technical writings.

The Seaport Museum in Lower Manhattan presents an exhibit of the work of Alfred Stieglitz through January 10, 2011. For those who cannot get to New York, a book titled "Alfred Stieglitz New York" is available for $25.00 The Curator of the exhibit describes it as "the first show of the master's collected New York photographs in 78 years."

The Pace Wildenstein Gallery in New York City featured an exhibit called "Neither Coming Nor Going" by Zhang Huan. Huan's previous work was in performance art, focusing on existential subjects. You can see Huan at work in this video taken at his studio. Additionally, Huan may have been one of the inspirations behind Lady Gaga's meat outfit: Huan's 2002 Muscle Suit was much discussed, as was the performance in Beijiing in which he covered himself with honey and sat unclothed in front of a public bathroom. (See our "Othering" article from 2007 which talks more about Huan's philosophies.)

At the Venice Architecture Biennale 2010, a stunning garden has been created by Studio Pei Zhu, using 1300 acrylic bars of alternating heights. In addition to their visual flow by day, the bars are lit at night. From the artists' statement: "In Chinese philosophy art is not the final goal; art is a process to personal refinement and growth." More works by Studio Pei Zhu include the Art Museum of Yue Minjun. You can also read a fascinating interview with him at designboom. And this YouTube video will take you through a tour of the larger Architectural Exhibition.

Anish Kapoor is doing marvelous things these days with stainless steel. I can tell you from first-hand experience that this is an extremely difficult material to work with. He has succeeded brilliantly in overcoming the obstacles. You can see more of Kapoor's works at his website.

For those of you who love pattern, the work of Fred Tomaselli combines kaleidoscopic whirls with painting and collage. Tomaselli describes his pieces as "vehicles to take you to other places". This month through January, 2011, the Brooklyn Museum will present a mid-career review of Tomaselli's art from 1990 to today.

If you, like myself, are rather unlikely to travel in a spaceship from in here to out there, the images of Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi provide an indelible impression. These are stated to be the "first real-time tweets from space".

Daniel Hourde is a French painter and sculptor who lives and works in Paris. His pieces are expressive, full of movement, frequently inspired by religious motifs. He likes to mix bronze and paint in his sculptures, and works effectively in charcoal as well.

Lori Lejeune creates mixed-media and collage pieces, as she says, at the "intersection of art and technology". Her series, "The Allegories and Allusions of Body Language", removes race and gender to connect human beings through their similarities rather than their differences.