Missed Connections
is a photo series comprised of five portraits of Lý dressed as the subjects of missed connections ads sourced from the website Craigslist, presented alongside screenshots of the original posts. Through costume, posture, and expression, the artist attempted to create and embody characters that matched the descriptions provided by the original posters, while filling in the gaps with their own interpretations. The lo-fi manner in which the photos were shot in, along with the repetitive compositions, emphasize the artifice of the project. The visible shutter release cable and obvious character work recall Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills, to which Missed Connections is much indebted to. The work acts as an intervention between the interaction of voyeurs/observers and objects of desire, creating a response through the invention of a character to what was once a one-sided conversation. Missed connections is an attempt to re-animate the subjects of ads who have become flatted by the quick impression they’ve left on strangers, and an exploration of attraction, desirability, and the specificity but mutability of these things.Lý is currently scouting ads and plans on expanding on this body of work in the future.