Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

In an early application of social media employed to create art, Lilly McElroy used Craigslist to set up meetings with anonymous men in bars so that she could literally throw herself at them. When she did not get enough takers, she started approaching men of all ages and occupations in person. About a quarter said yes. McElroy had a friend photograph these performance art encounters. While the men knew what was coming, there is still a sense of surprise, awkwardness, and even danger in the moment of intense physical contact. Although largely a humorous manifestation of a simple idiom, this image raises deeper questions about gender roles (with the woman in the position of the aggressor), casual bar “hook-ups,” and the fragility of human interactions.