Sasha's at it again!

Miz Grey's been up to a lot over the course of the past year. She made what may be the most actually valid crossover leap of any porn star since Traci Lords lit up the screen in John Waters' Cry Baby back in the early 90's, acting in the lead role in a film by the Oscar-winning director of Ocean's Eleven (among others). She started up her own production company, earning nods of respect from highbrow huffaloons and groans of impatience from porn-loving masturbators. And now, she's topping all of that as she takes on the role of Molly the street samurai in a reading of Case, an adaptation of William Gibson's cyberpunk novel Neuromancer.

And now, I'm confused. Didn't Sasha Grey used to do porn? Does she do that anymore? What's cyberpunk? Is that, like, Johnny Mnemonic and shit like that? And what's a street samurai?

Fuck if I've got the answer to any of those questions, but anybody who finds themselves in New York this weekend can attend the reading and find out for themselves what the shit's going on. Case is a part of Performa 09, a "biennial of new visual art performance" (which I think means it's a flower of some sort). According to the press release, it's going to combine techno-fetishism of the early 1980's with the abstract aesthetics of the early 20th century. Also, faux “virtual reality” scenes will unfold via moving Bauhaus-inspired sculptural props accompanied by the Gamelan ensemble Dharma Swara.

I have no idea what that means, but I could go for listening to some Bauhaus while I chug a bunch of Ouzo. So what the shit, maybe I'll head up to NYC and check it out (only I really won't, 'cause I'm lazy and not really all that interested).

In addition to Sasha's performance as the street samurai, this reading will also star Ray “Bad Rad” Radtke (known as a notorious hell-raiser, which is pretty evident from his name) and Brooklyn performance artist Sto (don't know his deal, but everybody loves performance art, right?).

I should point out the fact that I don't mean to be so hard on Sasha for her recent choices. She's making some bold moves and I applaud her for it. It's just that...well...I'm starting to lose interest a little bit. I loved her work in the adult film biz. She had a fierce fuckin' talent that you don't see too often these days. When I heard about the Girlfriend Experience, I was excited, both because I've enjoyed most of Soderbergh's movies and because it was nice to see an adult star taking on a role where there's some actual acting required (up YOURS, Stormy). I was excited to hear about GreyArt, but then ultimately disappointed by everything I've seen from the studio (from content down to packaging (editor's note: I dig the packaging, just sayin') I was just plain disappointed). And now, I just can't muster an interest in a staged reading of a novel I'll most likely never read. But that's just me, and I am, if nothing else, an opinionated curmudgeon who is best taken with a grain of salt, if that.

So if you're in New York, check them shits out. It's going down this Sunday. November 22nd from noon to 6:00 at the wonderfully titled New Museum. Info can be found here. Check it out and let us know what you thought. Maybe it'll make sense!

THE PERVERSION

THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE