Lilly McElroy – I Throw Myself At Men

“I grew up in southern Arizona, surrounded by cliché representations of my own experiences. There were cowboys riding bulls and coyotes howling on moonlit nights. There were epic sunsets and there was implied violence. This has been translated into paper mache landscapes and playfully antagonistic videos. My relationship with the place that I am from has partially become a performance for the camera and the new relationships that I am trying to form are headed that direction. It is though these performances that I attempt to develop authentic ties, to give the cliché new and personal meaning.”

For this project I went to a lot of bars and I literally threw myself at men who I didn’t know. I used my body as a projectile, hurling myself toward strong, vulnerable men who were waiting to catch me. Poised in a perpetual state of social awkwardness and in full possession of the ability to subvert stereotypical gender roles, the photographs pose questions concerning relationships, social connection, sex, gender, and the desire to form relationships quickly that are both intense and long lasting. The project initially started after I placed ads on Craigslist.org looking for men who would meet me blind date style in bars and allow me to throw myself at them. This project comes from a place where the desire to make a positive connection with another person is coupled with the knowledge that a connection might not be possible, that the person might not catch me.

“The photographs, videos, and installations that I produce, while trying to interact, acknowledge the possibility of failure — that someone might not catch me, that a connection might not be made. It is that possibility that keeps things interesting. In the end, I want to make the viewer laugh, but I want them to understand that there is more at stake, that everyone is implicated – including me.”
More images and other lots of interesting projects on Lilly McElroy’s website. Found on ignant.de.