At this year’s Frieze London art fair in Regent’s Park, Ella Fleck unveiled an installation that sheds light on a largely unseen community underpinning the OnlyFans platform. Fleck’s piece gives voice to “chatters,” men employed to impersonate OnlyFans creators in private message exchanges, encouraging fans to spend more money while earning substantial commissions themselves.

Fleck, 33, received the Camden Art Centre Emerging Artist award for the work, which was the product of six weeks she spent undercover in this obscure digital subculture. Her investigation began after a friend shared a story of an OnlyFans model who believed she had hired a boutique Italian agency to manage her account, only to discover it was in fact a group of men based in Leeds.

Assuming the identity of “Eliott,” Fleck underwent eight hours of daily training and observation before being recruited by the agency. She ultimately worked a shift before revealing her true identity and departing. Fleck described the men she encountered as having “conflicting feelings” about their role, finding aspects of it “absurd” and “uncomfortable.” While reluctant to discuss their jobs with partners, they were motivated by the financial rewards.

The installation itself incorporates recordings of multiple male voices delivering messages typical of this work, conveying an eerie mixture of humor, erotic tension, and unease. Fleck emphasized the physical experience of the piece as capturing the complex emotional undertones present in online chatting dynamics.

Adding to the sensory dimension, the artwork is infused with a bubblegum scent commonly used in industrial settings to mask unpleasant odors, paired with the synthetic male pheromone Androstenone. Martin Clark, director of the Camden Art Centre Emerging Artist prize, characterized the award as a valuable launching point for developing artists like Fleck.

Through this project, Fleck exposes the hidden labor behind the glitzy online adult content industry, inviting reflection on the intersections of technology, desire, and economic survival in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.