The Unwritten History
Project
Detail Record
Detail Record
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The Unwritten History
Project
Detail Record |
Detail Record for William Pope.L
Event Title: How Much Is That Nigger In the Window?
Series Title:
Location: Franklin Furnace
Date: 7/1/1991 - 8/31/1991
Event
Type: Installation
Event Documentation:
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Release: Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 15, 1991 Contact: Roberta Sklar 212-866-7785 Harley Spiller 212-925-4671 FRANKLIN FURNCE PRESENTS WILLIAM POPE.L "HOW MUCH IS THAT NIGGER IN THE WINDOW?" Summer, 1991 "How Much Is That Nigger In the Window?" is an ongoing performance and installation which asks that question: What can a black guy with a teaching job at a private school in new England have to say about street culture and black disenfranchisement in NYC?" In this complex 4-part work, William Pope.L is Mr. Poots, a hybrid nigger-character who is a cross between a black militant, a preacher, a street crazy and a Buppie (Black Upwardly-Mobile Professional). Pope.L's aim is to renew and re-awaken our humanity to the now familiar but still grinding, day-to-day icons of Street-People Culture and urban disenfranchisement. He will make field trips into the street to engage in serious tomfoolery e.g. crawling in the gutter to Richard Pryor's house; handing out torn money to motorists at stoplights; napping on the American flag in the middle of the sidewalk, and hunting for caviar with mousetraps baited with money. In the Franklin Furnace gallery, he will construct an installation using experiences, found-objects and jottings collected from his outings. From this material will issue: large drawings of skyscrapers skewering sleeping bodies; a cairn of street-jottings in 59-cent notebooks; food-gadgets, and "white sales" in which the artist will attempt to sell himself short. Thirdly, in-house performances (as compared to street (or outhouse) performances) will take place at several locations in New York City and Philadelphia - please call Franklin Furnace for schedule. Performances will consist of "Pootsian" lecture/demonstrations based upon his findings, both in the gallery and on the street, and will utilize text, slides, demographic charts, food, found-objects, loss of memory, unsound concepts and ideas, personal slights, unprogressive behavior and a rambling discourse concerning the money to be made doing street performance and the consequent loss of credibility. The publication of a book, tentatively entitled: "A Middleclass Person's Guide to Fucking Around in the Street with Good Intentions, Vol.1," will stand as the last, and fourth pillar of this monumental undertaking. The book will contain photographs, texts, drawings and other detritus resulting from the previously discussed activities. William Pope.L is an Afro-American artist/writer/performer who has worked in performance/theater since the late 1970s and has received numerous awards and prizes. Born in Newark, New Jersey, William's present project came out of his 11-year residency in the city of East Orange, New Jersey. He now lives in Lewiston, Maine where he teaches theater at Bates College. Franklin Furnace, a TriBeCa museum of the avant-garde founded by artist Martha Wilson in 1976, explores "time as the central medium of the 20th-century" through presentation of exhibitions of the historical avant-garde and contemporary temporal art. Franklin Furnace has been an innovator in the fields of performance and temporary installation, introducing such luminaries as Eric Bogosian, Karen Finley, David Hammons, Barbara Kruger, and Jenny Holzer to the public. It has been recognized for its groundbreaking work in the preservation and documentation of artists' books as well. This program is made possible by a grant from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation in partnership with the New York State Council on the Arts, supported by the national Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, and the friends and members of Franklin Furnace. |
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