Pope.L

How Much is that Nigger in the Window a.k.a. Tompkins Square Crawl

1991

Inkjet print, printed 2018

Not on view

In 1991 Pope.L participated in a residency at Franklin Furnace, an alternative arts space in New York City. During the residency, he staged Tompkins Square Crawl in the guise of his alter ego, Mr. Poots. Wearing a business suit and holding a potted flower, Pope.L crawled military-style along the perimeter of Tompkins Square Park in the East Village until his boots began to crumble.

Since the 1980s, the park had been a site of ongoing riots involving the homeless population who took shelter there, squatters, activists, and police. At the time of Pope.L’s Crawl, Tompkins Square was barricaded for renovations. By assuming a prostrate posture, forcing onlookers to direct their gazes downward, Pope.L aimed to make visible historically disenfranchised bodies and displaced communities.

Gallery label from

2019

Medium Inkjet print, printed 2018
Dimensions 10 × 15" (25.4 × 38.1 cm)
Credit Acquired through the generosity of The Jill and Peter Kraus Media and Performance Acquisition Fund, Jill and Peter Kraus, Anne and Joel S. Ehrenkranz, The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, and Jill and Peter Kraus in honor of Michael Lynne
Object number 85.2019.1
Department Media and Performance

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Pope.L

Pope.L

American, 1955–2023 33 works online

For five days, Pope.L sat on a toilet situated atop a tall makeshift tower, reading and eating a copy of the Wall Street Journal soaked in milk and ketchup.

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