“The fundamental problem of art is finding a suitable form – a shape for your philosophy, a form that is as persuasive as language. … It has taken me my whole artistic life to figure out why anyone gives a shit about form.” (Meg Cranston, “Big Problems #1”, 2006)

Californian artist Meg Cranston's twenty-year career (1987-2007) is the subject of Hot Pants in a Cold Cold World. Her work encompasses object making, writing, performance, theatre and mixed media installation and is for the first time lavishly surveyed in text and images.

This substantial 200-page full colour monograph includes installation images and texts by Nico Israel, Carole Ann Klonarides, Tirdad Zolghadr and previously published and unpublished writing by the artist.

This book was published by ARTSPACE and Clouds on the occasion of the survey exhibition Meg Cranston: The Pleasure of Obvious Problems organised by ARTSPACE, Auckland (4 August – 15 September 2007). Curated by Brian Butler, it included a selection of Cranston's work in sculpture, performance and mixed media installation, spanning her twenty-year career (1987–2007). The exhibition was shown also at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery (1 December 2007 – 31 March 2008).