Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight)

Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight) (2014–2015) was a work of endurance/performance art which Emma Sulkowicz conducted as a senior thesis during the final year of a visual arts degree at Columbia University in New York City.For "endurance performance art", Emma Sulkowicz (September 2, 2014). "Emma Sulkowicz: "Carry That Weight", Columbia Daily Spectator, at 2:22 min.

Begun in September 2014, the piece involved Sulkowicz carrying a mattress, of the kind that Columbia uses in its dormitories, around campus. Sulkowicz said the piece would end when a student Sulkowicz alleged raped her in her dorm room in 2012 was expelled or otherwise left the university. Sulkowicz carried the mattress until the end of the spring semester, as well as to the graduation ceremony in May 2015.

Fellow student Paul Nungesser, whom Sulkowicz accused, was found not responsible by a university inquiry into the allegations, and police declined to pursue a criminal complaint against him, citing a lack of reasonable suspicion. Nungesser called Sulkowicz's accusation "untrue and unfounded" and called Mattress Performance an act of bullying. In 2015, Nungesser filed a lawsuit against the university and several administrators alleging that the school exposed him to gender-based harassment by allowing Mattress Performance to go forward.Max Kutner (December 10, 2015), "The Other Side of the College Sexual Assault Crisis", Newsweek. Retrieved February 1, 2016. In 2017, the university settled the suit for undisclosed terms, and pledged to reform its disciplinary policies.

The piece stirred controversy with praise from art critics and criticism from some commentators. Art critic Jerry Saltz called Mattress Performance "pure radical vulnerability" and one of the best art shows of 2014. Journalist Emily Bazelon described the work and events surrounding it as "a triumph" for the survivor movement and "a nightmare" for the accused. Caught between defending and enabling Sulkowicz's freedom of expression and Nungesser's right to due process and the university's written policies regarding confidentiality, the university was criticized by both parties and their parents for its handling of the issue.

Background

Emma Sulkowicz attended Dalton School on the Upper East Side, and in 2011 began a visual arts degree at Columbia University. Sulkowicz alleges that she was slapped, choked, and anally raped by Nungesser in Sulkowicz's dorm room, on the first day of her second year in August 2012, during what began as a consensual sexual encounter. Nungesser denies the allegation, insisting that the encounter was entirely consensual. In April 2013, 8 months after the encounter, Sulkowicz filed a complaint with the university. Sulkowicz says she filed a complaint after encountering two female students who said they had also been victimized by Nungesser. One was a former girlfriend who said she was emotionally abused during their long-term relationship, and stated that she later recognized their sexual relations as having been non-consensual. The other said that on one occasion Nungesser had moved toward her aggressively, grabbed her arms, and attempted to kiss her. Shortly after Sulkowicz filed a complaint, the two other students with whom she was acquainted also filed complaints with the university against the same student.Cathy Young (February 3, 2015). "Columbia Student: I Didn't Rape Her", The Daily Beast.Richard Pérez-Peña, Kath Taylor (May 3, 2014). "Fight Against Sexual Assaults Holds Colleges to Account", The New York Times.Cathy Young (May 20, 2015). "As Another Accusation Bites the Dust, Columbia Rape Saga Takes New Turn", reason.com. Columbia ultimately cleared him of responsibility in all three cases.

The case attracted wider attention when the three female students who filed complaints gave interviews to the New York Post, which broke the story on December 11, 2013, without naming those involved.For interview with Sulkowicz that mentions the New York Post, Christoph Cadenbach (May 2015), "Nachtschatten", Suddeutche Zeitung Magazin, p. 2; for the Post story, Tara Palmeri (December 11, 2013), "Columbia drops ball on jock 'rapist' probe: students", New York Post. In April 2014 Sulkowicz appeared with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand at a press conference about campus sexual assault."Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Seeks Funds To Fight College Campus Sex Assaults", WCBS-TV, April 7, 2014.

On April 24, 2014, 23 students filed a federal complaint against Columbia and Barnard College, alleging violations of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, a law upholding gender equality in federally-funded institutions.Emma Bogler (April 24, 2014). "Students file federal complaint against Columbia, alleging Title IX, Title II, Clery Act violations", Columbia Daily Spectator. Among other issues, the complaint alleged that the institutions discourage students from reporting sexual assault, that alleged perpetrators are not removed from campus, and that sanctions are too lenient. The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation in January 2015.

On May 14, 2014, Sulkowicz filed a complaint with the New York Police Department. The district attorney's office interviewed Sulkowicz and Nungesser in August, but did not pursue charges, citing lack of reasonable suspicion.

Creation and performance

Sulkowicz devised Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight) in the summer of 2014 as a senior thesis while at Yale University Summer School of Art and Music. Her first effort was a video of herself moving a bed out of a room, accompanied by the audio of her filing the police report, which she had recorded on a cellphone.Smith 2014, at c. 38:50 min. The mattress later became the focus of the piece. Sulkowicz's thesis was supervised by artist Jon Kessler, a professor at Columbia. As the idea for Mattress Performance developed, Kessler and Sulkowicz discussed the nature of endurance art and the work of Tehching Hsieh, Marina Abramović, Ulay and Chris Burden.Jillian Steinhauer (September 17, 2014). "Two Weeks Into Performance, Columbia Student Discusses the Weight of Her Mattress", Hyperallergic; "Jon Kessler" , Columbia University School of the Arts. Sulkowicz described the work as "an endurance performance art piece". Sulkowicz told the Columbia Daily Spectator: "I do think that nowadays art pieces can include whatever the artist desires and in this performance art piece it utilizes the elements of protest ..."Sulkowicz (September 2, 2014), from c. 2:23 min.

Purchased online from Tall Paul's Tall Mall, the 50-lb (23-kg), dark-blue, extra-long twin mattress is of the kind Columbia places in its dorms, similar to the one on which Sulkowicz said that Nungesser had raped her.Vanessa Grigoriadis (September 21, 2014). "Meet the College Women Who Are Starting a Revolution Against Campus Sexual Assault", New York. Sulkowicz spent the summer of 2014 creating the rules of engagement, which defined the parameters of the project. Written on the walls of her studio in the university's Watson Hall, these included that Sulkowicz had to carry the mattress when on university property; that it had to remain on campus when she was not there; and that she was not allowed to ask for help in carrying it, but could accept if help was offered.For Watson Hall, Sulkowicz (September 2, 2014), from c. 2:00 min.

In early September 2014 Sulkowicz began carrying the mattress on campus.Noel Duan (September 9, 2014). "Going From Class to Class With Emma Sulkowicz and Her Mattress", Elle. A homeless man was one of the first to help. Sulkowicz told New York magazine: "He was the first person who helped without some sort of preconstructed belief for why they were going to help. He was like, 'Oh, look, a struggling girl—let me help her and be a nice human being.' That was probably the most honest interaction I had."Andy Battaglia (May 28, 2015). "Will Emma Sulkowicz's Protest Mattress Wind Up in a Museum?", New York. Sulkowicz kept a diary throughout, amounting to 59,000 words at the end of the work, recording the artist's experiences as well as the misunderstandings of commentators.

Sulkowicz said the work would end when Nungesser was expelled from or otherwise left Columbia, and that she would take the mattress to her graduation ceremony if necessary. In the end Sulkowicz carried it to the graduation ceremony on May 19, 2015, despite a request from the school that students should not bring "large objects which could interfere with the proceedings".Kate Taylor (May 20, 2015). "Mattress Protest at Columbia University Continues Into Graduation Event", The New York Times. Several women helped carry the mattress on stage. As Sulkowicz approached, university president Lee Bollinger, who had been shaking other graduates' hands, turned away as if to pick something up, and did not shake her hand; the university said this happened because the mattress was in the way. The next day posters appeared in Morningside Heights near the university calling Sulkowicz a "pretty little liar".Jessica Roy (May 20, 2015); "Posters Around Columbia Campus Call Emma Sulkowicz a 'Pretty Little Liar'", New York.

After graduation Sulkowicz said she had known the university would not expel Nungesser, and had expected to carry the mattress for nine months, the length of a pregnancy, which was an important part of the work: "To me, the piece has very much represented [the fact that] a guy did a horrible thing to me and I tried to make something beautiful out of it."

Reception

Reaction by the accused Paul Nungesser said in a December 2014 interview with The New York Times that Mattress Performance is not an act of artistic expression, but instead one orchestrated to bully him and force him to leave Columbia.Sarah Kaplan (February 4, 2015). "In Columbia University rape case, accuser and accused are now fighting it out in public", The Washington Post. He said that on the National Day of Action, protesters followed him around, carrying mattresses to one of his classes and taking his picture. He also said that he was not permitted to use written communications between himself and the alleged victim as evidence, and expressed disbelief that anyone could believe he was guilty even after his accusers failed to meet the low burden of proof used in the university hearing process.Emily Bazelon (May 29, 2015). "Have We Learned Anything From the Columbia Rape Case?", The New York Times Magazine. He also stated that since Sulkowicz's protest serves as her senior thesis, it is being supervised and implicitly endorsed by a Columbia faculty member.

Nungesser's parents criticized the university, including its decision to let Sulkowicz take the mattress to the graduation ceremony: "This has been a deeply humiliating experience. ... A university that bows to a public witch-hunt no longer deserves to be called a place of enlightenment, of intellectual and academic freedom."Katie Van Syckle (May 20, 2015). "Accused Rapist's Parents Criticize Columbia for Allowing Mattress at Graduation", New York.Rudi Novotny (June 2, 2015). "What Happened on the Mattress?", Zeit. Asked by German Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin about her feelings on the treatment of her son at Columbia, Nungesser's mother said, "This is a feeling of lawlessness." His father said that he sometimes fears his son will leave the school as a "cynic" and a "suspicious man".Christoph Cadenbach: "Nachtschatten", Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Heft 5/2015