OS(W)I Protocols: Open Sx (Workers) Interconnections Protocols (2025)

In 2018, a popular sugar dating site revealed that NYU had one of the highest number of student sex workers of all U.S. colleges. As sex work is an extremely under-researched topic in academia and often taboo to discuss, this project reveals the radical and multifaceted realities of sex work, specifically centering on college student sex workers, to dismantle societal stigmas and challenge ingrained stereotypes. The work explores how this form of labor offers financial stability and flexibility in a landscape where rising tuition costs and urban living expenses disproportionately burden students. Rooted in the artist’s own experiences as an international student juggling multiple jobs while struggling to navigate the financial pressures of living in an increasingly unaffordable city, the project confronts the intersection of economic precarity and systemic oppression, inviting viewers to consider how patriarchal structures and institutional inequities shape the choices available to young people today.

Structured through the metaphor of the OSI model—a framework for understanding the layers of communication—this piece unravels the hidden story of a single text message exchanged in the context of sugar dating. Each of the seven layers corresponds to a garment worn by a stripper, where QR codes lead the viewer deeper into the complexities of the message, from its sender to its abstracted digital transmission. By combining technology, storytelling, and performance, the project reveals the nuanced and often invisible labor of sex work while challenging audiences to confront their biases. As the layers are stripped away, the work exposes both the humanity and the systemic injustices underlying these stories, aiming to shift perspectives and foster empathy for those navigating this stigmatized yet empowering space.

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Created for the Radical Networks class taught by Sarah Grant for the NYU IMA Low-Res J-Term Show 2025.

Materials Used: Raspberry Pi 4, TP Link access point, leather coat, pleaser heels, NYU T-shirt, Nakt skirt, tights, Amor y Dinero custom lingerie.