COOL HUNTING®

Our second video on Emil Fiore, New Jersey's only spiderweb catcher, ventures into the forest to watch a few "catches." Going a little deeper than Part One (which documented the capture of one web), this episode looks more closely at his process, as well as the spiders and their webs themselves.

The first in a two-part series, this video is an introduction to the real Spiderman, Emil "Rocky" Fiore, who captures and mounts spiderwebs on glass. Here, the episode documents his process, from spray paint and varnish to delicately aligning the glass, on a pier along New York's Hudson River.

Turning the humble dried soybean into silky fresh tofu, episode 80 is a lesson on how to make tofu at home.

In our 79th episode we visit the Brooklyn studio of Lori Nix who photographs epic scenes of destruction and grandeur, natural wonders and glittering metropolises, magnificent architecture and heroic landscapes that all have one thing in common?they're all fake. Lori shows gives us a tour behind the artifice, showing us how she meticulously crafts the miniature sets using found objects and model-making materials. For more on this truth-bending artist, see our earlier interview with her here.

This episode features E*rock, the musician and artist who co-founded the record label Audio Dregs with his brother nearly 10 years ago. In that time he has not only become one of experimental electronic music's most important figures but also generously contributed many, many songs to early soundtracks of Cool Hunting's videos. If you were watching back then and liked the melodic sounds you heard, Audio Dregs was probably responsible for them. In this video, we visit him in his Portland home and studio, look at some of the album covers he designed, check out a zine he publishes, watch a few flash-based videos he directed and go on a bike ride. He also shares an unreleased track and weighs-in on headphone music, using digital tools and running a record label like an art collective.

In the second installment of our video covering Make Magazine's second annual Maker Faire we meet some interesting characters. Mister Jalopy shows us his urban guerrilla movie theatre. A homemade DIY portable projector, Jalopy can take the movies anywhere with his trusty tricycle. Then it's on to the battling robots. First, there's Josh Mehlman and his beer keg bot followed by Matt Maxham and his carefully thought-out fighting machine. Watch these two work up a sweat as they play with their joysticks.

In the first of a two-part series, we visit Make magazine's second annual Maker Faire in the SF Bay Area. There we meet Dale Dougherty, the editor and publisher of Make and founder of the Maker Faire. We also learn about Art Center College for Design professor Phillip Van Allen's open source hardware and software for creating interactive objects and tools called Net Connect, that he developed in collaboration with Moto. John Dyer shows us his homemade Tesla Coil and ITP student James N. Sears explains his inspirations for Orb and UltraOrb, 3-D displays he made using rotating LCDs.

We recently traveled to Michigan to spend a few days with Texas-born musician Matthew Dear, aka Audion. We stroll down train tracks and do a little fishing as he shares insight into his music making process and why there is so much bad electronic dance music these days. Originally huge on the techno scene, we also get a peek at his first ever live show with a band as he forays into the singer/songwriter role. He plays some tracks from his new album ASA Breed, which is set to drop worldwide on 5 June 2007 off Ghostly International. Some are already calling it "the cross-over album of the year."

Our latest video spotlights Dutch-born designer Tord Boontje, looking at his relationship with nature, his dislike of furniture fairs and the new retrospective book of his work. Tord takes us on a tour of the NYC's ICFF, sits down for an exclusive interview and has a quick chat with Tom Dixon about their shared profession.

Who will win the 2007 Minnesota RollerGirls Team Championship? Watch as the Dagger Dolls, Garda Belts, Rockits and Atomic Bombshells battle it out in the rink. Cool Hunting Video 73 takes you to the rink and behind the scenes of this year's championship bout in St. Paul, Minnesota. You'll meet some of the girls, learn about the game, and find out what makes roller derby their sport of choice.

This week Cool Hunting Video presents a behind the scenes look at the New York City Ballet's new production of Romeo + Juliet. Kristin Sloan, a dancer and editor of The Winger, a ballet blog, takes us into rehearsals for a first hand look at how a ballet classic is completely reinvented with new sets, costumes, choreography and even changes to its famous score. We hear from Romeo (Robert Fairchild) and Juliet (Sterling Hyltin) who discuss their first-hand experiences with one of the greatest tragic love stories of all time. Kristin made a multi part video of this incredible production, and we are very excited to have an edit made exclusively for Cool Hunting's viewers. We'd like to thank Kristin and the New York City Ballet for sharing their journey with us. If you're on the East Coast in early July you can catch the performance at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

From kite-flying on a Brooklyn rooftop to frying an egg and playing electronic music, episode 72 spends some quality time with the duo called Sovereign Beck. Known for their gorgeously-designed line of silk ties, Ryan Sovereign and William Beck also show us the finery in their Spring '07 collection, explaining their influences and inspiration along the way.

In this video we visit the 19th annual Dachshund Spring Fiesta in NYC's Washington Square Park. Put on by the Dachshund Friendship Club the event is one of two get-togethers they hold each year and draws hundreds of Dachsies and their owners. The only official activity is the singing of the Dachshund Song, composed by (who also made a CD of "dog tunes" called Tales of the City) and Paul de Vries. With Weinstock on accordion and de Vries' custom organ (built in honor of his now deceased Dachshund), the polka song is a befitting tribute to the hot dog.

For this episode we traveled to the Manhattan apartment of Wonder Woman collector Sam Hatmaker. He took us on a private tour of his extensive collection that nearly takes up an entire spare room (not including his massive horde of comics and DVDs). Sam walks us through the rare and the absurd?from a box of tissues and a cookie jar to a thousand-dollar phone and posters?offering insight into his obsession with the superhero along the way.

In this video we visit Salvor founding designer, Ross Menuez, who in just a few short years grew his line of silkscreened tees from a basement operation to a cult brand sold worldwide. Known for his animal tees and pillows, Ross has gone on to apply his eclectic style?a blend of diverse influences like Japanese design, op art and nature?to wall hangings, tape and, most recently, bags. At his Manhattan studio, we get the chance to see Ross at work silkscreening while he fills us in on his influences, inspiration and philosophy. We also get a peek at this obsessive designer's newest bags and other pieces from his line.