HotelChatter

According to the Times, the ads were not bought, but instead traded for free rooms at the hotels.

The photographs originate from two separate series by photographer Erwin Wurm, the same artist who erected the headless man sculpture outside Standard High Line earlier this summer. Apparently, Andre Balazs Properties Creative Director, Claire Darrow Mosier, was so taken with Wurm's "Politically Incorrect" series, she decided to make them the face of the Standard brand.

As Paper publisher David Hershkovitz puts it: the ads speak to "a certain kind of person," a member of "a creative community." The kind of person who, presumably, reads Paper over a bowl of soup, then drools in the bowl, while simultaneously peeing on the floor.

Come to think of it, maybe J House should consider getting in on the action too! They already fulfill at least one of those requirements.

[Photos: Erwin Wurm / Standard Hotels]