Mineral crystals are so beautiful, it's tempting to buy them as necklaces or coffee table ornaments even though they're so New Age-y. There's something pretty magical about the fact that their complex facets have grown, underground, over the course of centuries. But what if you were walking along the street of a major city and you saw geodesic rocks growing out of the cracks and crevices — even abandoned phone booths and open pipes?
That's the inspiration behind Paige Smith's project Urban Geode Street Art. Also going by the moniker "A Common Name," Smith writes on her site that the geodes are made of "hand cut and folded paper or individually cast resin and configured seamlessly to fit into spaces that inspire me." She takes the "public" part of "public art project" seriously, encouraging anyone to copy her methods. And she says artists have done so from Jordan, Turkey, Australia, South Africa, Korea, and France.
For more on how she does it, check out this video: