People will spout about impermanence of digital records, but books are really fragile, too. Alexis Arnold from San Francisco wanted to illustrate that with her project The Crystallized Book: collecting books and growing Borax crystals on them. Books range from literature classics to magazines, and there’s even a mysterious and arcane tome called “Linux: The Complete Manual”.

Nova Scotia Duck Tolling retriever Torrey competes in the 10th annual Petco Unleashed surfing dog contest at Imperial Beach, California August 1, 2015. Proceeds raised at the event go to benefit the San Diego Humane Society. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

The 139-year-old Victorian house known as the Englander House is hoisted on a flat bed and pulled down Franklin Street towards its new location six blocks away, as the original site is to be used to build a 48-unit, eight-story apartment building, in San Francisco, California, U.S. February 21, 2021. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small/Reuters)

This image of a young bareback rider was taken in the village of Palenque de San Basilio, in Colombia’s Bolívar department. Founded by freed slaves in the 17th century, it became the first free town in the Americas, following a decree by the Spanish crown. Most of today’s inhabitants are direct descendants of those slaves and have preserved many of their customs, including their own language, Palenquero. (Photo by Sebastián Suki Beláustegui/The Guardian)

Dutch driver Hans Jos Liefhebber on his KTM drives next to a seal during the fifth stage of the 2018 Dakar Rally, between San Juan de Marcona and Arequipa, on the beach of Puerto Lomas, Peru, 10 January 2018. The 2018 Dakar says goodbye to the dunes with its fifth and final stage over the Peruvian desert and begins to take height as it enters the Andean mountain range, heading for Bolivia. (Photo by David Fernandez/EPA/EFE)

Noel Brandon known as DJ IAMNOEL plays his set on a balcony in downtown San Diego, California on April 11, 2020. NOEL was inspired by other countries and wanted to give back. Residents went on their balconies at 8pm to cheer in support for the frontline workers, afterwards NOEL played his set to cheer up the locals who have been quarantined like many other cities around the world due to Coronavirus. (Photo by Ariana Drehsler/AFP Photo)

Men try to get control of a bucking horse a Tradition Day rodeo exhibition during, in San Antonio de Areco, Argentina, Sunday, November 13, 2022. Tradition Day, aimed to preserve gaucho traditions, is celebrated to honor the birth of Argentine writer Jose Hernandez, author of the country's national poem, “The Gaucho Martin Fierro”. (Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo)

Jesse Larios, 33, from Los Angeles, wears a bear suit while walking along Hollister Road in Gilroy, California, U.S., April 21, 2021. Larios, also known as Bear Sun on social media, is walking from his home in Los Angeles to San Francisco while wearing the bear suit as a social media fundraising event. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small/Reuters)