Notes from the Playground

This new collection of Richard Flood's written work from over the past 40 years reveals an original and rigorous connection to the world of ideas and beauty and the critical and aesthetic experience of our present times. Drawing from his broad knowledge of history, cinema, literature, poetry, design and architecture, Floods writings combine the autobiographical with the theoretical, presenting an intimate understanding of renowned contemporary artists. Throughout many of the essays, Flood draws on personal correspondence between himself and the artist, including an annotated conversation with Paul Thek discussing his fabricated works of wax raw meat facsimiles embedded in luxurious Plexiglas cases; four interviews with Robert Gober during the 1990s, offering vivid accounts of his sculptural and creative process; and a detailed description of a portrait sitting at Michael Landys studio. Floods significant essay on Arte Povera, co-authored with Frances Morris, is also reproduced, providing evidence of his ability to write in multiple ways.