Editors’ introduction to Chris Kraus’ I Love Dick and letters from Helena De Pulford, Georgia Mota and Natasha Soobramanien

As a part of the Intimacy Unguarded project, Morra and Talbot invited US writer and editor of the Native Agents series for Semiotext(e), Chris Kraus (Aliens and Anorexia, Summer of Hate, I Love Dick, Where Art Belongs) to visit Central Saint Martins. This event took place before the TV adaptation of I Love Dick, when the book had a cult status, but not yet the global reach of the televisual. The book uses a series of letters, feverishly penned by ‘Chris’ to ‘Dick’, the man with whom she is obsessed, as a structure for revealing the way the intimate is bound to critical thinking. Kraus’ work interweaves life experiences with references to artists and artwork, critical theory and philosophy. It was a pleasure to personally introduce our students (an important part of the Intimacy Unguarded project is our inclusion of CSM Art Program students from BA to PhD in the development of our project and events) and participants from Raven Row and Afterall to Kraus through an open seminar in which we invited participants to ‘Write A Letter to Chris Kraus’, and to hear Kraus's lively and insightful responses. We have included three of the letters (with grateful thanks to their writers; Helena De Pulford, Georgia Mota and Natasha Soobramanien) in this issue, as well as a couple of excerpts from I Love Dick, by way of giving a flavor of Kraus’ métier and marking the public Intimacy Unguarded event where Kraus gave a reading and engaged in a lively and thought-provoking Q&A with Emma Talbot.