After repeatedly finding boxes of discarded books in and around her urban environment, San francisco-based artist Alexis Arnold became fascinated by the idea of finding ways in which to immortalize forsaken publications. The shutting of newspaper and magazine shops coupled with the onslaught of electronic reading leaves the paperback in a uncertain state. Arnold has artfully reimagined their purpose as sculptural, adding glittering, living Borax crystal growth to their pages.

“I had been growing crystals on hard objects and was interested in seeing the effect of the crystal growth on malleable and absorbent objects. Conceptually, the series addresses the materiality of the book versus the text of content of the book. The crystals remove the text and transform the books into aesthetic, non-functional objects. The books, now frozen with heavy crystal growth, have become artifacts or geologic specimens imbued with the history of time, use and nostalgia.”

Image Source: thisiscolossal.com