Emma Sulkowicz (born October 3, 1992) is an American former political activist and former performance artist. While a college student, Sulkowicz developed a national reputation with the performance artwork Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight) (2014–2015). In 2019, she said she had stopped making art and began a master's program in traditional Chinese medicine. As of 2026, Sulkowicz provides acupuncture services in New York City.
Early life and education Sulkowicz is the child of Sandra Leong and Kerry Sulkowicz, who are both psychiatrists in Manhattan. Sulkowicz is of Chinese, Japanese, and Jewish descent. Sulkowicz attended the Dalton School on the Upper East Side, where she was an A student and competitive fencer. She attended Columbia University, where she fenced sabre for the Columbia University Lions fencing team, and obtained a degree in visual arts in 2015.Vanessa Grigoriadis, "Meet the College Women Who Are Starting a Revolution Against Campus Sexual Assault", New York Magazine, September 21, 2014. Rape allegation
In April 2013, Sulkowicz filed a complaint with Columbia alleging that she had been raped by Paul Nungesser, another Columbia student, on August 27, 2012. A university inquiry found Nungesser "not responsible". In May 2014, Sulkowicz filed a report against Nungesser with the New York Police Department (NYPD). After the district attorney's office interviewed Sulkowicz and Nungesser, it found insufficient grounds for reasonable suspicion. Sulkowicz declined to pursue criminal charges further, saying that NYPD officers were dismissive and had mistreated her.Ariel Kaminer, "Accusers and the Accused, Crossing Paths at Columbia University", The New York Times, December 21, 2014: "Sulkowicz did not press criminal charges, a lengthy process that she said would be too draining"Van Syckle, Katie (January 20, 2015). "Alleged Columbia Rapist 'Dismayed and Disappointed' by Accuser’s SOTU Invitation", New York Magazine, January 2015; accessed May 29, 2016.Van Syckle, Katie (September 4, 2014). "The Columbia Student Carrying a Mattress Everywhere Says Reporters Are Triggering Rape Memories", New York Magazine.
Sulkowicz subsequently focused her senior thesis on a work of performance art entitled Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight). Starting in September 2014, Sulkowicz carried a mattress around campus and to classes. The performance and her allegations received considerable media attention, with Sulkowicz becoming known as "Mattress Girl". Nungesser denied Sulkowicz's allegations of rape, citing as evidence friendly messages from Sulkowicz in the weeks following the alleged attack.
Sulkowicz developed the performance piece after learning that Columbia had dismissed sexual assault charges against Nungesser by two other Columbia undergraduates. A second motivating factor was her belief that Columbia and the NYPD had dismissed the allegations without enough of a serious inquiry. In April 2014, Sulkowicz had filed a Title IX complaint with 23 other students, alleging Columbia has mishandled sexual assault cases. Journalist Vanessa Grigoriadis described this as "the most effective, organized anti-rape movement since the late '70s."
In April 2015, Nungesser filed a Title IX gender discrimination lawsuit against Columbia, its board of trustees, its president Lee Bollinger, and Sulkowicz's supervising art professor Jon Kessler, alleging that they had facilitated gender-based harassment by allowing the art project to proceed. Federal District Court Judge Gregory H. Woods dismissed the lawsuit but allowed Nungesser to refile an amended suit. The refiled complaint was also dismissed. Columbia settled the case under undisclosed terms after Nungesser's attorney began the process of appealing the dismissal.
Works Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight)
The initial endurance performance piece consisted of Sulkowicz carrying a mattress wherever she went on campus during her final year as an undergraduate at Columbia University."Carry That Weight", Emma Sulkowicz interviewed by Roberta Smith, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Brooklyn Museum, December 14, 2014. For age, see c. 48:50 mins. For recording of police report, see c. 38:45 mins. For rules of engagement and source of mattress, see c. 39:57 mins.Lux Alptraum, "There Is Life After Campus Infamy", The New York Times, July 21, 2018. The work was a protest against campus sexual assault and the university's handling of the sexual assault case, in which it had cleared the accused of responsibility.Lauren Gambino, "Emma Sulkowicz's 'This Is Not A Rape site' taken down by cyberattack", The Guardian, June 9, 2015.
Sulkowicz created Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight) in the summer of 2014 as a senior thesis while at Yale University Summer School of Art and Music. This performance artwork was in protest against campus sexual assault and the university's handling of Sulkowicz's allegation that a fellow student at Columbia University anally raped her. The university cleared the student of responsibility, and the district attorney's office declined to pursue criminal charges, citing lack of reasonable suspicion. Sulkowicz's first effort was a video of herself dismantling a bed, accompanied by the audio of her filing the police report, which she had recorded on a cellphone. The mattress later became the sole focus of the piece. Sulkowicz told New York magazine:
The , dark-blue, extra-long twin mattress used in the performance art piece is of the kind Columbia places in its dorms, similar to the one on which she says she was raped. Sulkowicz spent the summer of 2014 creating the rules of engagement: written on the walls of her studio in the university's Watson Hall, these stated that Sulkowicz must carry the mattress whenever she went on university property; that it must remain on campus even when Sulkowicz was not there; and that Sulkowicz 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 mins. In September that year, she began carrying it on campus, which she said was a physically painful experience.Duan, Noel (September 9, 2014). "Going From Class to Class With Emma Sulkowicz and Her Mattress", Elle.com; accessed May 29, 2016.
During a protest organized by the student group No Red Tape on October 29, 2014, hundreds of Columbia students stacked 28 mattresses on Columbia's president Lee Bollinger's doorstep. The mattresses symbolized the 28 sexual assault complaints in Columbia's Title IX case, reported New York magazine. The Columbia student group Student Worker Solidarity, who booked the space for No Red Tape, would be charged $1500 for the removal of the mattresses on behalf of the university.
Sulkowicz carried the mattress to her graduation ceremony on May 19, 2015. During her walk across the stage to confer her degree, she approached Columbia president Lee Bollinger to shake his hand, as he had been doing for the other other graduates. However, he turned away at that time as if to pick something up, and did not end up shaking her hand.
Newspaper Bodies (Look, Mom, I'm on the Front Page!) Sulkowicz's final thesis show, the week before graduation in May 2015, included depictions of a naked man with an obscenity and a couple having sex, printed onto a New York Times article about the student she accused. Sulkowicz said that the images were cartoons, and asked: "what are the functions of cartoons? Do they depict the people themselves (a feat which, if you've done enough reading on art theory, you will realize is impossible), or do they illustrate the stories that have circulated about a person?" This work was later shown under the title Newspaper Bodies (Look, Mom, I'm on the Front Page!) as part of the group exhibition 7 women 7 sins at Kunstraum LLC in Brooklyn and at the Southampton Arts Center, Southampton, New York.Andy Battaglia (May 28, 2015). "Will Emma Sulkowicz's Protest Mattress Wind Up in a Museum?", New York; accessed February 13, 2019.
Ceci N'est Pas Un Viol
On June 3, 2015, Sulkowicz, working with artist Ted Lawson, released Ceci N'est Pas Un Viol ("This is not a rape"), an eight-minute video of Sulkowicz having sex with an anonymous actor in a Columbia dorm room. The title of the piece is a reference to the caption in René Magritte's 1929 painting The Treachery of Images: "Ceci n'est pas une pipe". Introductory text by Sulkowicz stresses that the sex was consensual throughout, though toward the end it portrays resistance, violence and force.Cait Munro (June 4, 2015). "Emma Sulkowicz Breaks New Ground With Troubling Video Performance", Artnet When the video was first posted, each screen displayed the timestamp of August 27, 2012, the night of the alleged assault, but later the date was blurred.Teo Armus (June 5, 2015). "Sulkowicz films herself in a violent sex scene for newest art project", Columbia Daily Spectator. Sulkowicz wrote that the work, which examines the nature of sexual consent, was not a reenactment of the alleged rape and later stated that it was a separate piece from Mattress Performance.
Sulkowicz's performance Ceci N’est Pas Un Viol stirred up criticism, raising concerns with how sexual violence was represented in a performance art format. Some reviewers felt that the artwork blurred the lines between real-life and a performance, making viewers uncertain on how to separate the two. Others felt that this piece was a proactive approach addressing rape on a personal level. In the article “Representations of Sexual Violence in Performance”, Jennie Klein argues that while presenting sexual violence in art is necessary for the public to view, that the artist is often exposed to serious harassment and hate after the work is released. Klein also argues that it forces viewers to confront difficult ideas viewing personal trauma. After the release of the performance, Sulkowicz faced many hateful remarks about her appearance; she was ridiculed by standards held by society on how women should look. She also faced problems with the website being disabled by cyberhackers, who continuously attacked the site.
Self-Portrait From February to March 2016 at Coagula Curatorial in Los Angeles, Sulkowicz exhibited a piece, Self-Portrait. For the first three weeks of the exhibition, Sulkowicz stood on a pedestal in the gallery, and had one-on-one conversations with visitors who would stand on an identical pedestal in front of her. The exhibition featured a life-sized robotic replica of the artist that was called "Emmatron". Emmatron plays prerecorded answers to several questions Sulkowicz has been repeatedly asked, which she will no longer respond to. A few examples of questions Emmatron had answers to included "Tell me about the night you were assaulted", "Is this art piece a part of Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight)?" and "What do your parents think of all this?" If audience members asked these questions to Sulkowicz during their conversation, the artist would send them to Emmatron for the answers.
The Ship Is Sinking