Artist Finds Way to Immortalize Books

The printed word is slowly coming to its demise with the onslaught of digital books and e-media and it couldn’t be more apparent than seeing actual books in dumpsters. This is exactly where Alexis Arnold found her inspiration for her latest project, The Crystallized Book Series. The San Francisco-based artist repeatedly found boxes and boxes of discarded books around where she lived and decided to turn them into beautiful sculptures. By soaking the books in warm water and adding Borax detergent, living crystals form on its pages transforming the obsolete publications to what looks like glittering geological artifacts. Arnold’s crystallized books are presented at Esther Klein Gallery in Philadelphia until March 20, 2015.