Performances will occur within the hours of 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.
In 1991, Pope.L (American, b. 1955) performed an early street version of Eating the Wall Street Journal as part of a summer-long residency at the New York alternative arts space Franklin Furnace, Inc. While sitting on an American flag on a New York City sidewalk, the artist slowly tore pieces of the newspaper and chewed them, washing them down with milk and ketchup. An iterative performance that has evolved over time across a range of locations, Eating the Wall Street Journal questions the mythical allure of a newspaper that has long promoted power, wealth, and consumption. Eating the Wall Street Journal will be reinterpreted in three live performances during the exhibition member: Pope.L, 1978–2001. A yellow square on the gallery floor marks the location of these performances. The site of the actions can be viewed continuously on a closed-circuit monitor at the entrance to the exhibition.
Director: Pope.L
Performers: Marie Louise Guinier, Pope.L, Sean Mana
Costumes: Sally Dolembo
Tailoring by Atelier Q
Costume assistant: Lisa Marion
Newspaper prop team: Powerhouse Arts, Brooklyn, New York
Art Domantay, project director, Jeremy Gender, producer, project manager, lead maker, John Michael Swartz, technology consultant, graphic designer, printing technician, maker, Kiah Vidyarthi, maker, Angélica Maria Millán, maker, Gina Pham, senior director of collaborative production
Documentation: Oresti Tsonopoulos (videography), Walter Wlodarczyk (photography)
The artist offers special thanks to Stuart Comer, Kimberly Golding, Lizzie Gorfaine, Danielle A. Jackson, and Beatrice Johnson at MoMA; Lucy Mitchell-Innes, Courtney Willis Blair, and Isabelle Hogenkamp at Mitchell-Innes and Nash; and Noelle Africh, Fabienne Elie, and Dave Lloyd at Pope.L Studio.
Organized by Stuart Comer, The Lonti Ebers Chief Curator of Media and Performance, Department of Media and Performance, with Danielle A. Jackson, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Media and Performance. Performances produced by Lizzie Gorfaine, Producer, with Beatrice Johnson, Assistant Performance Coordinator, Performance and Live Programs.
MoMA’s presentation is part of Pope.L: Instigation, Aspiration, Perspiration, a trio of complementary exhibitions organized by MoMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Public Art Fund.