1. Background

2. Work
    Overview  Text  Video  Public comments 

3. Analysis

4. See also

5. References

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The film illustrates the shift between consensual and non-consensual sex.^[3][5] Named after "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" from René Magritte's The Treachery of Images,^[4] the scene shows Sulkowicz and the actor engaging in what begins as a consensual sexual encounter and ends with what appears to be non-consensual anal sex.^[2] (The text notes that the sex was consensual and only appears to be rape.)^[5]

The online response in the comments to the video is a central part of the work, described as an example of participatory art.^[2] Sulkowicz wanted to know "what the public does with [the video], which begins with the way they deal with it from the moment it's disseminated."^[6] Shortly after it appeared, the video was taken offline by a denial-of-service attack.^[7] By 9 June 2015, there were 2,700 comments on the site, most of them negative or ridiculing.^[8][9] Sulkowicz said they strongly believed in the video's importance, but that making it had been a "traumatizing" experience.^[7]

Background

Emma Sulkowicz, a non-binary artist who uses they/them pronouns,^[10] obtained a degree in visual arts from Columbia University in 2015.^[11][12] Their senior thesis and first notable artwork was Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight) (2014–2015), which consisted of Sulkowicz carrying a mattress wherever they went on campus during their final year, in protest against campus sexual assault and the university's handling of a complaint they filed against a student they said anally raped them.^[13] The university cleared the student of responsibility;^[7] the district attorney's office declined to pursue criminal charges, citing lack of reasonable suspicion.^[14]

Work

Overview

Sulkowicz wrote the script and introductory text, chose the position of the cameras, the lighting and the appearance of it having been filmed by security cameras. The scene was filmed in one continuous take three times during the Columbia spring break in March 2015.^[5][7] According to Lawson, Sulkowicz had "insisted on it being completely real. ... That's what makes it a performance art piece."^[5] Sulkowicz told the Guardian that making the video had been traumatizing, and had left them in a "very scared, emotional state for days."^[7] They said elsewhere that vulnerability is part of what makes performance art good.^[6]

Text

The introductory text said that the video was not an enactment of Sulkowicz's rape allegation. Rather, "Ceci N'est Pas Un Viol ... [is] about your decisions, starting now." Sulkowicz gives only provisional consent to view the video:^[2][4][33]

Do not watch this video if your motives would upset me, my desires are unclear to you, or my nuances are indecipherable.{{paragraph break}} You might be wondering why I've made myself this vulnerable. Look—I want to change the world, and that begins with you, seeing yourself. 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.{{paragraph break}} Please, don't participate in my rape. Watch kindly.^[15]

They then ask a series of questions: "Are you searching for ways to either hurt or help me? ... Do you think I'm the perfect victim or the world's worst victim? ... Do you hate me? If so, how does it feel to hate me?"^[15]

Video

The scene is shown on a split screen from four angles, with a timestamp in each corner, beginning 02:10 and ending 02:18. Lawson said the security-camera perspective "removes the wall between the viewer and the action."^[16][7] The video begins with Sulkowicz and the actor, whose face is blurred, entering the room, undressing each other, then kissing and engaging in oral and vaginal sex, the latter with a condom. Three minutes into the video, the actor hits Sulkowicz several times, then removes the condom, pushes his hands and their legs against their neck or throat, and penetrates them anally. They scream, tells him to stop, and put their hand over their face. After a short time, the actor stops abruptly and leaves the room with his clothes in his hands. Sulkowicz is left curled on the bed in the fetal position, with their back to the camera. After wrapping themselves in a towel, they briefly leave the room, return and make their bed, then appears to fall asleep.^[3][16]

Lawson told the Columbia Spectator that Sulkowicz and the actor had captured the shift from the consensual to non-consensual: "I think the video expresses the possibility that you don't forfeit that [consensuality] ever."^[16]

Public comments

Lawson said Ceci N'est Pas Un Viol explores the relationship between art and social media, "this giant, polluted ocean."^[16] A key part of the work was the online reaction, particularly in the website's comments section. The 2,700 comments within the first five days were mostly critical or ridiculing. They included sexual, sexist and racist insults and threats. There were remarks about Sulkowicz's physical appearance, ethnicity, mental health, and that the scene did not depict rape.^{[8][9][17][18][19]} Someone posted the video on a porn site.^[17] Comments on other sites were both positive and negative.^[9] The video was the victim of a denial-of-service attack by hackers on 4 June, according to DigitalOcean, which hosts the site, and on 5 June there were technical problems caused by the numbers attempting to access it.^[7]

Analysis

Hannah Rubin, writing in The Forward, called it "sophisticated and brilliant," and despaired of the lack of empathy on display in the website's comments section.^[8] According to Julie Zeilinger, the video was "unsettling" for Sulkowicz's supporters, and several questioned their approach.^[22] On Slate's DoubleX Gabfest podcast, Hanna Rosin argued that the split-screen forces the viewer to embrace the subjective, in terms of choosing whether and how to watch, and how to interpret, which is the opposite of activism because it is too nuanced. The broadcast noted that Sandra Leong, Sulkowicz's mother, had written on Facebook in support of the work.^[23]

See also

• Authorial intent
• Death of the author

References

• Hari Chand Middha
• Harichandra (disambiguation)
• Haricharan Seshadri,
• Haridasas and Karnataka classical music
• Haridas Dutta
• Haridas Pal
• Haridaspur, West Bengal
• Haridas Shastri
• Haridas Siddhanta Bagish
• Haridev Joshi
• Haridev Joshi University of Journalism and Mass Communication
• Haridevpur
• Haridian Rodríguez
• Haridra Nadhi
• Haridra river
• Haridra River
• Haridra serendiba
• Haridwar, India
• Haridwar Kumbh Mela
• Haridwar Municipal Corporation
• Haridwar Municipal Corporation election, 2013
• Haridwar - Ramnagar Intercity Express
• Haridwar Rural (Uttarakhand Assembly constituency)
• Haridwar Rural (Vidhan Sabha constituency)
• Haridwar - Shri Ganganagar Intercity Express