We owe our visions of the future to the relatively unknown artist and engineer Syd Mead. Menna Aden photographs personal spaces from a lightbulb’s perspective. Cai Guo Qiang’s explosions rival the accidental Fourth of July fireball unleashed by the city of San Diego. Ken Solomon immortalizes the Facebook pages of other guys named Ken Solomon. A student activist lights up a cigar at the president of Columbia University’s desk.