William Pope.L: Cliff (2012) and Better (2013)
Logan Center Tower
Ongoing
William Pope.L, Cliff, Vinyl (2012) courtesy of the artist.
Cliff (2012) and Better (2013)
Windows on levels 7, 8, and 9, beginning in the SW stairwell of Level 9, Logan Center Tower
William Pope.L's Cliff (2012) is a site-specific work, a drawing in vinyl, originally installed as part of the exhibition Wall Text, which closed on February 2, 2013.
Cliff speaks in a contradictory fashion to its surroundings: its peaks and valleys are cast against the ultra-flat Midwestern urban scape that is visible through the windows in all directions. Amidst the incongruous desert cliffs one can make out single letters that spell out a slogan: ON STRIKE FOR BETTER SCHOOLS.
With the extended presentation of Cliff, a bumper sticker is being produced with the title Better (2013). The bumper sticker will proliferate into the social surround through various means from self-directed actions to roving group action. Putting the bumper sticker on one's vehicle or child's notebook is a flag on a hill declaring that the war for better questions is never over.”
ABOUT WILLIAM POPE.L
Pope.L, or William Pope.L as he is sometimes called, is a visual and performance-theater artist and educator who makes culture out of contraries. He has been making multidisciplinary works since the 1970s. He was born in Newark, USA, in the alleyway of a laundromat in 1955. Pope.L does not confront anything. He runs in the opposite direction toward paradox, formal issues, stupidity, maybe race. Among his best known works are the "gasket" performances in which he inserts various parts of his body for long periods of time into holes he has created. For the artist, everything is a notation and he has been inscribing since the 1970s. Pope.L exhibits internationally and lives in Chicago, USA. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Visual Arts, University of Chicago.
William Pope.L, Cliff, Vinyl (2012) courtesy of the artist.
William Pope.L, Better, Bumper Sticker (2013) courtesy of the artist.