Chinese artist Cai Guo Qiang has long developed a reputation as a master of pyrotechnics. His best work derives meaning through the beauty and violence of explosions, such as in 2003's "Light Cycle" fireworks display over Central Park, inspired by the tragic events of 9/11. Lately, we can't take our eyes off the just-plain-awesome "Inopportune: Stage One" installation at the Seattle Art Museum. And we can't help but wonder whether the colorful display of tumbling Tauruses may have served as the inspiration for the explosive car crash scene in this summer's Live Free or Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis and our favorite Maggie Q.

--Will Reiter
"Inopportune: Stage One," at the Seattle Art Museum.

"Inopportune: Stage One," at the Seattle Art Museum.

Scene from Live Free or Die Hard

The straight, open highway is one of the more enduring—and revealing—American symbols. Whether on a growling Harley or a low-slung Shelby GT500, there's no better way to decode the national genome than by taking to the road—wherever it may lead.  And if the Yancey Richardson Gallery's latest show, "Easy Rider: Road Trips Through America," is any indication, the possibilities are endless.

[see a slideshow of images from the exhibit here…]

The exhibit—which also delves into social commentary and cultural geography spanning 1935 to 2006—runs from July 11 until September 8.  Highway culture and its ties to the American identity intersect around every corner, through the lenses of William Eggleston, Mitch Epstein, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Allen Ginsberg, Stephen Shore, and others.

Danny Lyons brings motorcycle gangs into the light, while Alec Soth dips into the Mississippi River culture. Ed Ruscha shows exactly what Route 66 was really made of.  From the lowly, vacant dust bowls captured by Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans to Eggleston protégé Christian Patterson's rainbows and blue sky, the road is all about optimism. What could be more American than that?

--Andrew Nusca