Emma Sulkowicz, who carried a mattress on Columbia University’s campus for months in a performative protest against the school’s decision not to expel a man who she accuses of raping her, has released a video called “Ceci N’est Pas Un Viol” (“This Is Not A Rape”) that explicitly depicts a sexual encounter which turns violent. Introductory text says the video contains “allusions to rape” but is not a re-enactment of the 2012 incident in which Sulkowicz says she was sexually assaulted by fellow student Paul Nungesser. (Nungesser denies the accusations and has sued Columbia for failing to protect him for what he calls Sulkowicz’s defamation and harassment.)
The video is posted online but not currently loading; here’s a description of it from a Jezebel post:
The eight-minute video features Sulkowicz 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.
Sulkowicz discussed the project with ArtNet News in an interview published Thursday; she says she made the film during Columbia’s winter break. It was directed by an artist named Ted Lawson who told ArtNet that he was put in touch with Sulkowicz by well-known performance artist Marina Abramović.
