member: Pope. L, 1978-2001

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Pope.L (American, born 1955). _Eating the Wall Street Journal, Version 3, SculptureCenter, New York_. 2000. Inkjet print, 10 × 15" (25.4 × 38.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired in part through the generosity of Jill and Peter Kraus, Anne and Joel S. Ehrenkranz, The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, The Jill and Peter Kraus Media and Performance Acquisition Fund, and Jill and Peter Kraus in honor of Michael Lynne. © Pope.L, courtesy the artist

Pope.L. Eating the Wall Street Journal (3rd version). 2000

Pope.L (American, born 1955). Eating the Wall Street Journal, Version 3, SculptureCenter, New York. 2000. Inkjet print, 10 × 15" (25.4 × 38.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired in part through the generosity of Jill and Peter Kraus, Anne and Joel S. Ehrenkranz, The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, The Jill and Peter Kraus Media and Performance Acquisition Fund, and Jill and Peter Kraus in honor of Michael Lynne. © Pope.L, courtesy the artist

Pope.L: Eating the Wall Street Journal, the original performance, I’m out and about in the city. I pick a place to do an action. I have a piece of fabric. I lay the fabric on the ground and I sit on it. And I take this thing and I began to eat it. I'm being very quiet. I'm looking at people around me.

I'm acting as if this is the most natural thing in the world, to eat a copy of the Wall Street Journal. Which I think was an achievement. Because you know, eating a copy of the Wall Street Journal takes time. It's not very tasty. So you really have to focus on this. And also when I did it in the environment I did it in, it was very busy. So you have to sort of shut out this clamor and do this activity and tell your body not to respond.