The Devil's Playground

by Nick Cave, Guido Costa, Nan Goldin

The Devil's Playground presents a major collection of photographs by Nan Goldin (b.1953). Since the 1980s, Goldin has consistently created photographs that are intimate and compelling: they tell personal stories of relationships, friendships and identity, while chronicling different eras and exposing the passage of time.

This book features a significant body of the latest work by Goldin, including photographs from new series such as Still on Earth (1997-2001), 57 Days (2000) and Elements (1995-2003), many of which are previously unpublished. Laid out in diary-like sequences by Goldin herself, the material is both courageously candid and affirmative. The photographs are grouped into themed chapters, between which are interspersed texts, poems and lyrics by prominent writers, including Nick Cave, Catherine Lampert, Cookie Mueller and Richard Price. The Devil's Playground is the first major book to be published on Goldin's work since 1996 and it is by far her most important to date.

This monograph brings to light both the sources of Goldin's inspiration and her life as a prominent contemporary artist: she is internationally recognized as one of today's leading photographers. Born in Washington DC, Goldin grew up in Boston where she began taking photographs at the age of 15. She has since lived in New York, Bangkok, Berlin, Tokyo and Paris, amassing an extensive body of work that represents an often disconcertingly seductive photographic portrait of our time.

Genres: Photography, Art, Nonfiction, Love, Art and Photography

504 pages, Hardcover

First published November 18, 2003

About the author

Nicholas Edward Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional actor. He is best known for his work in the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and his fascination with American music and its roots. He has a reputation, which he disowns, for singing dark, brooding songs which some listeners regard as depressing. His music is characterised by intensity, high energy and a wide variety of influences. He currently lives in Brighton & Hove in England.

Cave released his first book King Ink, in 1988. It is a collection of lyrics and plays, including collaborations with American enfant terrible Lydia Lunch.

While he was based in West Berlin, Cave started working on what was to become his debut novel, And the Ass Saw the Angel (1989). Significant crossover is evident between the themes in the book and the lyrics Cave wrote in the late stages of the Birthday Party and the early stage of his solo career. "Swampland", from Mutiny, in particular, uses the same linguistic stylings ('mah' for 'my', for instance) and some of the same themes (the narrator being haunted by the memory of a girl called Lucy, being hunted like an animal, approaching death and execution). A collectors' limited edition of the book appeared in 2007.

Cave wrote the foreword to a Canongate publication of the Gospel according to Mark, published in the UK in 1998. The American publication of the same book contains a foreword by a different author.

Reviews

[Jeff Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novelistic in its structure and ambitions. Would be more powerful at half the length, though.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Content is 5 stars but the layout knocks a star off. Printing numerous full page color photographs across the gutter really distracts.

[Aurora Domeniconi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il sublime nel taglio fotografico di Goldin sulla quotidianità. Una immersione totale non sono CON ma anche DENTRO ai suoi soggetti.

Invidiabile, mirabile. Sembra di cambiare vita in ogni pagina.

[Teresa Coutinho · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite photographer ever

[Nyx · Rating 4 out of 5]

definición de voyeurismo lol

[Odette · Rating 4 out of 5]

ja, heel mooi en ook met Nick Cave is extra leuk

[Christopher Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, I feel like this is sort-of cheating because this is actually a book of photography, but it's my FAVORITE book of photography, so... who cares. Nan Goldin's relationships with her subjects is amazing. These are such intimate, gorgeous photographs; they speak of so much trust between the two sides of the camera. Don't be scared by the price tag; this book is so very worth it.

[Mary]

This book was given to me by Beulah and Justin.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

dirty and gorgeous photographs

[Doug · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best READ on an actual playground...

[Tiffani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nan Goldin is one of my favorite artist and this is a great collection of her work.