In memory of Pope.L
"I am a fisherman of social absurdity, if you will. . . . My focus is to politicize disenfranchisement, to make it neut, to reinvent what’s beneath us, to remind us where we all come from.” (Pope.L)
The US-American performance artist Pope.L died on December 23, 2023 at the age of 68. Although he humorously described himself as a "fisherman of social absurdity", Pope.L created a body of work of staggering topicality, touching on a wide range of complex socio-political issues such as access, belonging, identity, public health, nationhood and blackness.
Among his best-known street performances were his "crawls", carried out in various American cities since the 1970s, in which he moved through urban space on his hands and knees to address the division and inequality in society - the deep rift between the aspirations of upward mobility and the absence of opportunity that confronts many americans.
Visitors to documenta 14 (2017) were familiar with his acoustic intervention "Whispering Campaign", which could be heard at various locations in Kassel and Athens during the exhibition. The audio work was complemented by performers who whispered rumors in the streets and thus created a different history of the city.
A series of small-format felt-tip drawings was also on show at the documenta Halle.