In Eating the Wall Street Journal, William Pope.L makes theater of bingeing and purging. Dressed only in a jockstrap and some crusty-looking glasses, flour covering his body, he plays a character he describes as "part shaman, part clown." Seated on a toilet that rocks like a rocking chair, he peruses the Journal as thoughtfully as any businessman, tears off a strip or maybe a little square, looks it over, then stuffs it into his mouth. He's built a little bed under the throne, and whatever he spews back out tends to land on the pillow. By the day of his fourth performance, discarded newspaper and crud have built up under there in layers one could only call sculptural, and Pope.L has taken to descending during the piece to lie on the bed, trying to get spectators to lie down next to him. A couple of art lovers actually do.
Pope.L, who is African American, combines identity politics with abjection in uniquely discomfiting ways. The earlier work he is showing on video here is Budapest Crawl: The Black Sports Body in Europe. He's done a number of Crawl pieces over the years, and says they're about the tradition of struggle for African Americans. In Budapest, he wiggled along between a busy roadway and a river wearing some combination of soccer and basketball gear, holding a glow-in-the-dark globe. The struggle does seem rather universal.
While the Wall Street Journal piece seems to be all about debasement as well, Pope.L says, "I think of something like the black church metaphor where it is the job of the pastor to show that he is struggling, he is suffering for the congregation. That's the tradition where you need to show some kind of self-mortification and a willingness to go into this dark place, in order for people to be convinced that you have something of value."
As for the "magical Bible" of the stock market, Pope.L says he's done some research into West African bocio objects. "They're like voodoo," he says. "I've been reading a lot about these ritual practices and the idea of using objects to affect the world." Though he's questioned his right to use Africanisms—"not being African"—he's now decided "it's something I can own, in the sense that I'm interested in making objects that cause change."
-Robert A. Heinlein
Saw him recently at a show at Bates, and boy, did we steer clear of him.
"A state-supported artist is an incompetent whore."
Actually, historically speaking, some of the greatest acheivements in the arts were created by artists on the State and/or Church dole (sometimes it was one and the same).
Personally, I wish the Church would re-capture its role as leader in support of the arts. I think it would have a profound effect on our culture.
And yes, there IS such a thing as "bad" art.
Flame Away. :)
Is this all tax funded? This is what folks are s'posed to do on their own time, in the back yard on weekends. Now if y'all will excuse me I have an art exhibit to stage. It's called "Max Sits Around The House In A Lazy-Boy And Boxer Shorts Eating Nachos And Smoking Like A Friggin' Train And Watching Dallas Get Its A$$ Kicked." It's a partially-nude neo-postmodern commentary on the significance of phallic imagery in the realization of inner resonance. Contributions welcome. Particularly beer.
http://artsnet.heinz.cmu.edu/current/cur112095.html
From 1995
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Two Maine artists, William Pope, a performance artist from Lewiston, and Mark Wethli, a painter from Brunswick, recipients of $20,000 NEA fellowships were recently honored at the Portland Museum of Art, along with 21 artists who received awards from the Maine Arts Commission. Mary J. Herman, wife of Governor Angus King, presented eight $3,000 fellowships and 13 apprenticeship awards. The Maine Arts Commission fellowships are designed to provide financial support for artists to advance their careers, acknowledge excellence and promote public awareness of Maine artists. Eight $3,000 fellowships were awarded in the categories of Visual Arts, Design Arts, Film and Traditional Craft. Due to a generous challenge grant given by the Evenor Armington Family Fund, the Commission was able to award two additional fellowships this year.
Well, change this then: Dependence on the taxpayer's money.