Disco Hedgehogs and Other Tales at Art Platform-L.A.

This weekend's inaugural Art Platform—Los Angeles, the city's entry in the modern and contemporary art fair circuit, offered the opportunity to see the work of new artists, catch up with pals who were exhibiting…and avail 14-month-old Nina with new stimulation to "ooh" at.

It also finally provided the perfect birthday gift for the dear gal. We requested only books as gifts for her first birthday and she received a windfall worthy of a small town library.

Nearly two months later, however, and we had yet to make our parental contribution to the collection that marked this milestone.

At the D.A.P. booth, there were dozens of books by the German publisher neatly layed out on tables made of saw horses. It was all to much to resist. But resist I tried. I had Nina in the stroller, and without the side panniers to carry anything. Or so I convinced myself as the reason why I shouldn't blow a wad of cash right then and there on all the beautiful books.

Nina and I nearly escaped without so much the fall 2012 catalog when I spotted a thin, white volume marked Viktor & Rolf with a story inside called Disco Hedgehog. Then another book brandishing the name of French video artist Pierre Huyghe, and one with John Baldessari, and yet another with Björk and Sjón. There were a dozen books in all, each by book by an artist or two or three from the worlds of fashion, cinema, music or art. And each with one a production feature special to it, from holography or flocking to glow-in-the-dary and even scratch-n-sniff.

The lovely heap, tied together by black leather straps, is Visionaire No. 59: Fairytale. How I missed its release late last year, who knows. But the timing in discovering it now couldn't have been more perfect.

Happy Birthday Nina.