Mattress girl redux. You may have doubted her when she wandered about Columbia University with a mattress on her back seeking to draw attention to her claims of rape, but now she's made a video, a video!, of what she claims took place. What more proof do we need?
Emma Sulkowicz – the Columbia University graduate who made headlines for her protest art criticizing the school’s handling of her alleged sexual assault – has released a new performance piece, according to artnet News.
The eight-minute video, titled “Ceci N’est Pas Un Viol” — French for “This is Not a Rape” — features Sulkowicz and an anonymized male actor having seemingly consensual sex in a dorm room. But the act soon turns violent as the actor chokes and slaps Sulkowicz, removes his condom and penetrates her against her will.
Directed by Ted Lawson, the video can be viewed here and is prefaced with a trigger warning: “The following text contains allusions to rape. Everything that takes place in the following video is consensual but may resemble rape.”
In an accompanying text to the video, Sulkowicz said: “‘Ceci N’est Pas Un Viol’ is not about one night in August, 2012” – the night Sulkowicz says she was raped by a fellow Columbia student.
She instead explains: “It’s about your decisions, starting now. It’s only a reenactment if you disregard my words. It’s about you, not him.”
Sulkowicz then provides a framework of questions to challenge viewers’ interpretation of and motive behind watching the piece: “Do you desire pleasure? Do you desire revulsion? Is this to counteract your unconscious enjoyment? What do you want from this experience?” and “Are you searching for proof? Proof of what? Are you searching for ways to either hurt or help me?”
http://college.usatoday.com/2015/06/06/emma-sulkowicz-rape-performance-video/Interestingly enough every link I could find to this fine piece of art, er, evidence, er, art, states "page not available. However, you can read Ms Sulcowicz' own commentary about the film here:
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/emma-sulkowiczs-rape-referencing-video-305180Additional information of great import: her "director", Ted Lawson, is an outstanding example of the modern artiste. He once used a robotic arm to draw his own portrait using his own blood. Sistine Chapel time, ya ask me.
