Project Prostitute

January 11, 2008 8:26 AM

Project Prostitute [NSFW] [via mefi projects]

"I asked a few friends to draw me prostitutes, just for laughs. Then, my curiosity got sparked. I wanted to see a prostitute drawn by my grandmother, or my math teacher."

posted by item (50 comments total)

Yes! I voted for this. I have this urge to sketch prostitutes now.
posted by misha at 8:37 AM on January 11, 2008

Oh, Slick Rick stuck in my head…
posted by klangklangston at 8:38 AM on January 11, 2008

Huh, I could have sworn I saw this posted already...

Maybe this is a really bad case of deja drew?

Now I am ashamed of myself.
posted by m0nm0n at 8:49 AM on January 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

You might have seen it in Projects, but I doubt it. Everybody knows nobody reads Projects.
posted by item at 9:01 AM on January 11, 2008 [2 favorites]

Why do prostitutes always have to use flash?
posted by srboisvert at 9:09 AM on January 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

Why do prostitutes always have to use flash?
It's an advertising tool.
posted by chillmost at 9:19 AM on January 11, 2008 [2 favorites]

Turns out, this is incredibly depressing if one knows an actual (former) prostitute.
posted by emmastory at 9:21 AM on January 11, 2008 [2 favorites]

I'd rather see your grandmother and your math teacher drawn by prostitutes.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 9:29 AM on January 11, 2008 [11 favorites]

Interesting idea.
posted by callmejay at 9:35 AM on January 11, 2008

How come the few prostitutes I've known look like regular people? I feel cheated!
posted by small_ruminant at 9:36 AM on January 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

This reminds me of Eve Gilbert's Tits, Ass, and Real Estate.
posted by goatdog at 9:37 AM on January 11, 2008

Not all prostitutes do it out of desperation. Most likely, the ones we usually see do, however. Not sure how I feel about the site. It wasn't something I wanted to look at, so I didn't.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:43 AM on January 11, 2008

Hmm, poor taste. I'm not so sure I see even a subjective difference in interpretation between the various points of origin with these, ahem "renderings", as it were. Who cares what kind of person you ask to compose a cliche? They're all apparently going to scribble down some fishnets, a miniskirt and crack/cigarette references with all the accuracy and realism you might expect out of a child who has been raised on television tropes.
posted by prostyle at 9:48 AM on January 11, 2008 [3 favorites]

I'm not sure what this is meant to prove. Any profession can be stereotyped as a cliche. Draw a farmer...or a banker...or a hip-hop artist.
posted by rocket88 at 9:58 AM on January 11, 2008

I think this is absolutely fascinating. Thanks for sharing.

And yes, the statements ARE rather varied (ex. what about the one that is a decoupage of random photographs placed inside the fashion mag model outline vs. the parking meters vs. the smiley face vs. the stereotype? If those don't make statements about society, then what?)
posted by iamkimiam at 9:59 AM on January 11, 2008

caveat clickor
posted by dontoine at 10:04 AM on January 11, 2008

I have this urge to sketch prostitutes now

Is that what the kids are calling it these days?
posted by dersins at 10:05 AM on January 11, 2008 [2 favorites]

I saw this posted recently, too, and not in projects. I think it was mentioned in MetaTalk somewhere.

While I yawned (and winced) at the site at present I think it has an interesting seed of an idea. It could be made interesting by soliciting/collecting drawings of a *variety* of things, not just hookers. A doctor drawn by a 5 year old, 10 year old, 15, 25, 40, 60 year old. Or a nurse. A lawyer. A game show host. And so on ad infinitum.
It's probably been done, though.
and "projectprostitute.com" would shoot it in the knees in terms of marketing.
posted by hecho de la basura at 10:05 AM on January 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

Muhammad Project [NSFM]
posted by CynicalKnight at 10:08 AM on January 11, 2008

Is anyone else here disappointed that this isn't a new reality show?
posted by ooga_booga at 10:14 AM on January 11, 2008

Is anyone else here disappointed that this isn't a new reality show?

Project Prostitute Runway?
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:15 AM on January 11, 2008

Quick, everyone draw a negro!
posted by klangklangston at 10:20 AM on January 11, 2008

I would, but some Mexican guy just stole my pen.
posted by item at 10:28 AM on January 11, 2008

What a Whoreable Waste of Time or Skanks for the Memories! staring Rocket J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose. Featuring Harvey Firestein as the Matron of Boner.
posted by aftermarketradio at 10:30 AM on January 11, 2008 [3 favorites]

Surely it would have to be Project Redlight?
posted by kcds at 10:31 AM on January 11, 2008 [2 favorites]

Children's drawings of scientists - reflecting kids' perceptions both before and after a visit to Fermilab. Maybe a similar project before & after a visit to a Nevada brothel?
posted by madamjujujive at 10:41 AM on January 11, 2008 [2 favorites]

It's good to see that fellow MeFites in this thread actually view prostitutes for what they really are: human beings. /not sarcasm
posted by Brocktoon at 10:44 AM on January 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

Call me when someone starts a project where I draw my idea of a prostitute first, then they pay for me to spend a night with a hooker, and I do a new drawing in the morning.
On preview, madame has it.
posted by nomisxid at 10:49 AM on January 11, 2008

I was interested until I got to the annoyingly slow-loading Flash-based gallery.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:10 AM on January 11, 2008

Can you sublet prostitutes? In other words, if you pay for an hour, can you then resell your hour to someone else for a higher price? There seems to me to be an untapped market within the prostitution industry for some low-class neighborhood to high-class neighborhood arbitrage.
posted by Pastabagel at 11:11 AM on January 11, 2008

Project Prostitute Runway?
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:15 AM on January 11 [+] [!]

How about Project Beltway? Wait - that's the one where the people get screwed.
posted by ooga_booga at 11:18 AM on January 11, 2008

Can you sublet prostitutes? In other words, if you pay for an hour, can you then resell your hour to someone else for a higher price? There seems to me to be an untapped market within the prostitution industry for some low-class neighborhood to high-class neighborhood arbitrage.

Sure, it sounds like a great idea.

Until Nicholas Leeson comes along and tries to short straddle the Hunts Point and Park Avenue markets and manages to bankrupt the entire Mafia.
posted by dersins at 11:22 AM on January 11, 2008

Stud would seem to be more appropriate, or even Texas Hold 'Em.
posted by Caviar at 12:17 PM on January 11, 2008

The Google Ads at the top of this (non-logged-in) thread read: "Buy Prostitute"; "CD Prostitute"; "Cheap Prostitute"; "Discount Prostitute." Apparently, Google mistook this thread for the one immediately below.
posted by octobersurprise at 12:42 PM on January 11, 2008

You know, as projects go, this is pretty generic.
posted by dhartung at 12:58 PM on January 11, 2008

Matt got the orifice and bondage agenda across quite succinctly.

That group of sketches seems pretty out of date with the reality of sex workers. Could it have been titled Ignorant and Clichéd Versions of Hookers?

The politics of sex workers.

In keeping with the silly drawings theme: Drawings of aliens by the children the aliens abduct (including how to make a tinfoil hat).
posted by nickyskye at 2:44 PM on January 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

I think it's interesting that there are so many negative, stereotypical drawings... and then we have these two (NSFW, obviously), both by the same artist, which just don't fit...
posted by sonic meat machine at 2:46 PM on January 11, 2008

Can we have a project mefite? Let's all draw ugly picks of our fave mefites and put them on the web! The uglier and stereotypier, the better!
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 3:10 PM on January 11, 2008

So most people really can't draw, is the point here then.
posted by frobozz at 3:28 PM on January 11, 2008

This interests me about as much as still life painting. Which is to say: not at all.
posted by ZachsMind at 3:29 PM on January 11, 2008

...although this has some nice music to it.
posted by ZachsMind at 3:30 PM on January 11, 2008

I dug this in Projects. Thanks for bringing it over, item.
posted by snsranch at 3:32 PM on January 11, 2008

You're welcome, snsranch. To the rest of you: pbbbbbt!
posted by item at 3:35 PM on January 11, 2008

I'm surprised that people didn't make the prostitutes prettier.

Also, I think it's hilarious that this thread is right next to the Tila Tequila thread.
posted by Afroblanco at 4:17 PM on January 11, 2008

Too bad the project doesn't investigate the usage of the word 'prostitute', and why the word 'prostitute' was chosen, because then it would be art. Currently, this MetaProject is a great example of graffiti scrawled on bathroom walls.
posted by KokuRyu at 4:21 PM on January 11, 2008

I thought this was going to be the prostitute project for the reduction of rent
posted by terrortubby at 5:23 PM on January 11, 2008

The whole thing is kind of disappointing.
posted by Doohickie at 8:44 PM on January 11, 2008

In my town the prostitutes meet for karaoke Thursday nights at a friendly neighbourhood bar located in a strip mall.
posted by TimTypeZed at 9:47 PM on January 11, 2008

Cool idea, it reminded me of this.
posted by hadjiboy at 10:35 PM on January 11, 2008

Thanks for bringing this over, item.

I won't speak to my sister's intentions with this project. However, I will apologize for those with an aversion to Flash/Simpleviewer.

9/10 doctors recommend hopping on over to Flickr to view the pictures in a non-flash environment.
posted by ifranzen at 10:08 AM on January 12, 2008