Did you suddenly feel sad Friday night, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in disappointment and were suddenly silenced? If so, it was likely due to the absence of Emma “Mattress Girl” Sulkowicz from last night’s TEDxCUNY conference in New York.
The DC Examiner’s Ashe Schow was among those expecting to see the recent Columbia University graduate attempt to add a 16th minute to her fame by delivering a TEDx talk Friday night. A TEDx talk is like the famous TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talks but only licensed by, not sponsored by, the non-profit Sapling Foundation.
THE RETURN OF MATTRESS GIRL – https://t.co/WmzEOnY77f
— Ashe Schow (@AsheSchow) November 18, 2015
Why? Just WHY?!?@AsheSchow
*pounds head on desk*— R.O.C.K. in the ? (@ROCKInTheUSSA) November 18, 2015
https://twitter.com/2toneDL/status/667118626428870657
@AsheSchow she should take that stupid mattress to Syria. Trust me, there'd be nothing "questionable" about her allegations then.
— ⒼⒾⓁ (@gilwuvsyou) November 18, 2015
https://twitter.com/GuitarAnthony/status/667106089012449282
Schow hyped up readers earlier this week with news that Sulkowicz had returned. For those unfamiliar with her background, Sulkowicz claimed she was raped by a fellow student at Columbia University and began carrying a dorm-sized mattress with her everywhere, naming the performance piece “Mattress Project (Carry That Weight)” and receiving college credit toward her senior thesis. (Her alleged rapist, in the meantime, was cleared of any crime and is suing the university for allowing his name to be dragged around.)
Sulkowicz did attempt to stay in the spotlight with her next art project, an eight-minute pornographic film called “Ceci N’est Pas Un Viol” that depicts consensual sex in a dorm room that turns to a violent assault but “is not a recreation” of her alleged rape.
So of course we were interested to hear her talk about socially constructed borders, but according to Schow, Sulkowicz didn’t show.
So either her speech was moved of Emma Sulkowicz was dropped from Tedx talk. They just skipped her.
— Ashe Schow (@AsheSchow) November 20, 2015
For an unspecified reason, she was unable to attend. Maybe she couldn’t jam her mattress into a cab. (Just kidding — “Mattress Project (Carry That Weight)” has been retired.)
Unfortunately, Emma Sulkowicz will not be able to join us.
— TEDxCUNY (@TEDxCUNY) November 20, 2015
It was probably for the best, as many of the speeches focused not on false rape charges but on the topic of the day, “borders and belonging,” with openly biased journalist/immigration activist Jorge Ramos making an appearance via Skype.
"We cannot equate terrorism with immigrants. We cannot equate terrorism with Muslims." @jorgeramosnews #TEDxCUNY2015
— TEDxCUNY (@TEDxCUNY) November 20, 2015
"It's always fun and interesting to talk to the bad guys. You've got a chance to challenge them." @jorgeramosnews #TEDxCUNY2015
— TEDxCUNY (@TEDxCUNY) November 20, 2015
Other speakers included Michele Karsouny:
"Refugees are people. They are people who are disillusioned by the various systems in their country." @karsouny #TEDxCUNY2015
— TEDxCUNY (@TEDxCUNY) November 20, 2015
Marta Effinger-Crich:
"Migration is often thought of as physical movement from one place to another. It is more complicated." @martajec #TEDxCUNY2015
— TEDxCUNY (@TEDxCUNY) November 20, 2015
"Through the act of migration, human beings search for their identities. They move to find home, refuge, and love." @martajec #TEDxCUNY2015
— TEDxCUNY (@TEDxCUNY) November 20, 2015
"Any black woman's movement is rendered suspicious.Not having space to move freely, not having a home, is dehumanizing." @martajec #TEDxCUNY
— TEDxCUNY (@TEDxCUNY) November 20, 2015
Undocumented immigrant Aashna Shah:
"No piece of paper is enough to signify a person's character. Every person, documented or not, deserves to be listened to." #TEDxCUNY2015
— TEDxCUNY (@TEDxCUNY) November 20, 2015
Jess X Chen:
"They can never beat the love out of us. Let our voices rise up from the steam of our country's body." @Jessxchen #TEDxCUNY2015
— TEDxCUNY (@TEDxCUNY) November 20, 2015
"Look at the sky. It is the only sky we have left. Become bird. Become migrant constellation." @Jessxchen #TEDxCUNY2015
— TEDxCUNY (@TEDxCUNY) November 20, 2015
"Even as we are made invisible by a heteronormative, xenophobic culture, we refuse to be silent." @Jessxchen #TEDxCUNY2015
— TEDxCUNY (@TEDxCUNY) November 20, 2015
"Change cannot come from those in power, but in collaboration of the queer, people of color, bc this country was not built with us in mind."
— TEDxCUNY (@TEDxCUNY) November 20, 2015
And speaking of borders, or the lack of them, Galen Baughman:
"There are millions of people in the US who are forced to register as sex offenders. As a teenager I become one of them." #TEDxCUNY2015
— TEDxCUNY (@TEDxCUNY) November 20, 2015
"We think we know what a sex offender is. What if everything we know is wrong?" @GalenBaughman #TEDxCUNY2015
— TEDxCUNY (@TEDxCUNY) November 20, 2015
Don’t ask us. Ask Salon.
"Imagine a world where we treat child sex abuse as a public health problem, where we invest in prevention." @GalenBaughman #TEDxCUNY2015
— TEDxCUNY (@TEDxCUNY) November 20, 2015
We close today with a reminder that there's always work to be done. Thank you for contributing to the dialogue! #TEDxCUNY2015
— TEDxCUNY (@TEDxCUNY) November 20, 2015
There’s work to be done, all right.
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