Mattress Performance Art

A Columbia University art student is carrying a mattress around everywhere she goes as a performance art project about rape, and it’s personal. She reported an alleged sexual assault on the first day of her sophomore year in August 2012, after she found out that two other students had made complaints against the same student. In each instance, he (the alleged rapist) was found "not responsible" by Columbia University administration. Later she filed a police report but the alleged rapist still attends the same school. Her mattress performance art is titled Carry that Weight because since she was raped in her dorm room she has carried the weight of the trauma with her everywhere and the mattress is her chosen symbol of the event. The twin-sized mattress is the right size to draw attention to the issue and light enough to manage, but heavy enough that the art major continues to struggle with it as she continues to struggle with rape. She plans to carry it as long as she and her alleged rapist attend the same school. I think this is an interesting way to bring attention to the issues of sexual assault on college campuses, and I hope that this art student eventually becomes strong enough as she carries that weight to someday throw it off and live free of the trauma associated with rape.