Artist Turns Old Books into Crystallized Sculptures books, sculpture
When artist Alexis Arnold freezes old copies of National Geographic magazines, worn phone books, Holy Bibles, and classic hardcovers into
crystallized sculptures, she wants to strip them of their content to
focus solely on their purpose as aesthetic objects. The San
Francisco-based artist has always been fascinated by “the visual display
of time,” and for her ongoing series, she was especially inspired by
the changing landscape of reading, from the growing popularity of
e-books to the growing death of bookstores.
The texts are caught in mid-movement—bent at their spines, rolled over,
and crumpled up—and are dipped into a Borax solution that emblazons
them with crystals. “The Crystallized Book Series addresses the
materiality of the book versus the text or content of the book, in
addition to commenting on the vulnerability of the printed book,” she
explains on her site. “The books, frozen with crystal growth, have
become artifacts or geologic specimens imbued with the history of time,
use, and nostalgia.”
me during class:If I organize my time I can get those two assignments done and have laundry going while studying and get done in time to make a great dinner from scratch.
me when I get home:lol fuck that *dicks around on the internet for 5 hours*
“I had a boyfriend who told me I’d never succeed, never be nominated for a Grammy, never have a hit song, and that he hoped I’d fail. I said to him, ‘Someday, when we’re not together, you won’t be able to order a cup of coffee at the fucking deli without hearing or seeing me.” ― Lady Gaga
