A couple of weeks ago I came back from a brief trip to the breathtaking Pacific coast in California. One of the highlights was definitely the sightings of those adorable nursing baby elephant seals near San Simeon.

While there was nothing related to book arts during this trip, I did manage to find something book-related. At this interior design shop called Rubbish Interiors in the Silver Lake area of LA, I saw two home objects!

A stack of book... coffee table. The middle book is actually a drawer with a handle in the form of a bookmark:


And another stack of books... which are in fact, stone book boxes:


A few doors from Rubbish Interiors is Materials and Applications' exhibition space, currently showcasing a scaly metallic sculpture called Bloom (by Doris Sung in collaboration with Ingalill Wahlroos-Ritter and Matthew Melnyk). It is

A 20 foot tall shiny metal 'flower' who's skin will open and close with the heat of the sun and provide a unique and exciting experience for the thousands of visitors to this unique art laboratory. (Excerpt from Materials and Applications' website)