THE Q&A: SASHA GREY, PERFORMER

As an X-certificate actress, Sasha Grey perfected a thrashing sensuality far more cathartic and psychologically fraught than her moaning, grunting contemporaries. Her smouldering looks and unapologetic public appearances snared millions of mostly male fans and turned the teen porn performer into a cult figure. She is considered cool to watch. Buoyed by her status as an underworld icon, Grey has participated in fashion spreads, starred in a Smashing Pumpkins music video and worked the talk-show circuit. Then at the age of 21 she made her first foray into “legitimate” cinema, landing the role of the laconic escort in Steven Soderbergh’s "The Girlfriend Experience". But Grey might better be suited to highbrow performance art than Hollywood glitz. She spoke with More Intelligent Life after appearing at PERFORMA 09–a biennial performance-art festival organised by RoseLee Goldberg. She had just performed in "Case", a six-hour theatrical reading of William Gibson’s science-fiction classic "Neuromancer", arranged by Brody Condon, a performance artist, and adapted by Brandon Stosuy. She appeared in the role of Molly Millions, a clawed, mercury-eyed assassin. Grey, who was home-schooled, retains the strange intellectual sparkle of a true autodidact. Here she considers the line between porn and performance art, the cultural appeal of pre-war Berlin and the beginnings of a new cyber-hierarchy. More Intelligent Life: How did you get involved in this performance piece? Did they approach you with the part, or you them? Sasha Grey: My friend Brandon Stosuy wrote the adaptation, and about two years ago he and Brody came to me with the idea. MIL: What was it about the project that intrigued you? SG: The project was mysterious from its inception, and changed throughout its [two years of pre-production]. Everything on stage was part of the performance, as we learned our places and Brody [Condon] directed us... Part of the experience for the audience was watching us create the scenes. I enjoy a performance that is reciprocal with its audience. And this was a project where none of the parties involved had to live up to anyone's expectations. We could be dedicated but free. MIL: Were there any unique challenges to playing Molly? At times in the novel she channels multiple characters simultaneously. At others, her mind and personality are turned off completely when she becomes a "meat puppet." Did people draw comparisons between Molly and your own work in the adult-film industry? SG: I read for Molly, I didn’t develop her into a character like I would for a normal stage play or film. That was the aim, for everyone on stage to read deadpan, not attempting to put any work or research into his or her respective characters. This was a one-time performance. I’m sure if this was an ongoing performance, yes, people who take the easy way out with their reviews draw that comparison. MIL: Do you consider yourself a performance artist? SG: Yes, I approach every adult scene as performance art, unless I am playing a character other than myself, which is quite rare. MIL: Are there other artists whose work you follow? SG: I'm a big Renoir, Cindy Sherman, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Matisse, Eva Hesse, Umberto Boccioni, Dali and Rauschenberg fan. Those artists really stuck with me, [they were among] the first pieces I ever saw as a teenager at [the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art]. There's this brilliant sense of seeing something you've looked at in a book, up close, and in person. I was recently in Estoril, Portugal for the Estoril Film Fest, and David Cronenberg had an installation about a racing movie he started to adapt but never finished. You would have to spend a good two hours looking at the entire thing to even know the premise, but nevertheless it was great. Juliette Binoche also had an installation there; she had sketches of each director she had worked with along with a sketch of her character from each film, with a poem or letter dedicated to each director. It was so inspiring to look at, and there was so much room for interpretation. I’m also a big fan of Lindsay Strawberry’s art pieces, and the photography of Kristin Burns. One of my co-stars in "Neuromancer" was an artist, Lionel Maunz; Brandon [Stosuy] had an insane post-modern sculpture of his, and plans on writing a piece about Lionel for Art in America, which I really look forward to. MIL: As someone who was born in 1988, you are part of a generation that has grown up saturated in cyberspace. Do you see parallels between your lifestyle and the cyber-punk world Gibson depicted in "Neuromancer"? SG: Not necessarily. I still had to use the library to do homework, and steal my older girlfriends’ VHS/DVDs! As good as “cyberspace” is, it also allows for detachment; instead of socialising, people talk in chat rooms, congregate on message boards... it almost feels like a new cyber-hierarchy is beginning. MIL: Where do you see yourself 20, 30 or 50 years in the future? SG: Running a successful business, travelling, writing and continuing to pursue photography. Living to see American cinemas screen films for adults (and I don’t necessarily mean films with penetration); living to see better health-care for everyone. Continuing to make music, and acting in non-adult films. Definitely producing (and possibly directing) independent films, contributing my time to various charitable organisations here at home and abroad. Brody Condon’s "Case" will be performed at a small outdoor community theatre in Missouri this summer. Sasha Grey’s as-yet-untitled manifesto will be released later this year from Vice/MTV Books. ~ JAMES MCGIRK Picture credit: Greg Burkett