2017 - 2019 m4m Series

m4m is a project manipulating found images and text from Craigslist m4m personal ads in the US urban centers with the largest estimated populations of gay men. In these disoriented cities, interpersonal interactions are supplemented (if not replaced) by digital interactions. The resulting aesthetics show a web of ephemeral, over-saturated sales pitches where gay men can be free to present themselves in any way they choose. One can cling to the tropes of masculinity still celebrated in American society or take on an alter ego they feel unable to personify in their public life. Through the narcissism of the selfie, the intimacy fabricated through Craigslist, and the language used to define our sense of reality, this project seeks to explore both the beauty and the isolation of a small segment of gay culture in America. Seeking to neither reinforce hypersexualized stereotypes of gay culture nor glorify anonymous sexual activity, m4m is an exploration of merely one example of the broader trends of insatiable consumption, marketing-centric representation, and fragmented interaction within the contemporary digital moment.

It is important to note that this project was started in 2016 and data gathering was completed in 2017. In early 2018, Craigslist shut off all of their personals pages in the United States in the wake of HR 1865 ("FOSTA") being passed by the US Congress. As such, this project represents a small time capsule of one way in which technology can influence and then eradicate modes of communication.

© 2024 Aaron Wilder. All rights reserved.