Columbia University‘s Emma Sulkowicz, often referred to as “Mattress Girl,” is revealing her participation in another violent art project – this one involving an actual sex tape.
Artnet confirmed yesterday afternoon that the student is behind website“Ceci N’est Pas Un Viol,” which shows a consensual sex act that quickly turns violent. The video was filmed with director Ted Lawson during the university’s winter break.
Although the video is no longer available on the site, Jezebel viewed it before it was taken down:
The eight-minute video features Sulkowicz’s and a man, his face blurred, engaging in what appears to be consensual sex that turns violent. The unidentified man open-palm slaps Sulkowicz, chokes her, removes the condom, then continues to have very rough sex with Sulkowicz, who whimpers and protests from pain. In the accompanying text, Sulkowicz warns that the video is not a recreation of the events in August 2012, a reference to the night Sulkowicz claims she raped by fellow Columbia student, Paul Nungesser.
Sulkowicz insists that the video is not a representation of her own experience. During her interview she explained, “They’re two separate performance art pieces… but I’m trying to make them both as good as I can. And I think that with performance art, that’s part of what makes it good… making yourself vulnerable. But they are completely different pieces.”
The introductory text warns viewers before watching: “If you watch this video without my consent, then I hope you reflect on your reasons for objectifying me and participating in my rape, for, in that case, you were the one who couldn’t resist the urge to make Ceci N’est Pas Un Viol about what you wanted to make it about: rape.”
The student – who gained national recognition after carrying a mattress around her ignorant college campus to demonstrate the emotional weight of rape – graduated this year and continues to fight against domestic abuse.
