I throw myself at men. #5, 2006
I throw myself at men. #3, 2006
I throw myself at men. #12, 2008
"This project initially started with ads I placed on Craigslist in 2006, looking for men who would meet me blind date style in bars and allow me, literally, to throw myself at them. Using my body as a projectile, I hurled myself towards men who were waiting to catch me, subverting the usual gender expectations that women are passive, and men make the first move. The photographs that resulted (taken in Midwestern dive bars) capture a perpetual state of social awkwardness and pose questions concerning relationships, social connections, sex, gender, and the desire to form relationships quickly that are both intense and long-lasting. Adapting the language of physical comedy, I wanted to make work that wasn‟t just about desperation but about a desire to make connection by any means necessary. That positive desire is, however, tempered by the knowledge that a connection might not be possible—that the person may not catch me."
— Lilly McElroy (Los Angeles, CA)