Sexting largely exists to give local news stations something to wring their hands over on slow news days and to offer creepy photos of judges. But artist Karen Finley is going to take it to a whole new level.
Of course, it’s only funny until you get to the details. Once you have those, it becomes both funny and kinda creepy!
Patrons who wish to participate process their commissioning fee online or in person at the New Museum Store and are subsequently provided with a time to be present for a ten-minute on-site sitting during announced performance times. Sittings are completely private, discrete, and anonymous. During your sitting, you will receive access to a private phone number for the purpose of sending Finley a “sext.” This sext will, in turn, serve as the inspiration for a painting, or series of paintings, created by the artist in a temporary studio set up in the New Museum Lobby.
And how much, you might ask, does getting a painting of “I wud totly sqze ur nips” run you? Between $200 and $500.
To be fair, Finley isn’t some random person they’re paying to lure in suckers: she’s highly respected in the art world. This isn’t the first work she’s done that’ll have moralist types freaking out, either: she was at the center of the National Endowment for the Arts controversy back in 1990, a case Finley had to take all the way to the Supreme Court.
So, really, a bunch of awkward flirting is pretty much completely in her wheelhouse. Still, we do want to be there when the collector in question explains how, precisely, he got this unique piece. “Well, first I pulled it out in an art studio, took a photo of it, and sent it to the artist. Then I paid her $500.”
We’re sure that won’t give the wrong impression at all.