Archive of items related to the Black Factory, including Donated Objects, Twice Sold Goods, ephemera, digital image files, a website, and a film
Not on view
In 2004, Pope.L embarked on a tour of the United States in a customized van, a nomadic laboratory designed to collect donated “black objects”—that is, “anything . . . a person believes represents blackness”—as part of his project The Black Factory. At each location, the van set up shop with an interactive program facilitated by “workers,” whose irreverent pranks, cabaret performances, and interventions developed from their engagement with visitors. Addressing would-be participants, the artist wrote, “Everyone wants to know: What is the Black Factory? What does it do? And how can I get in on the action? Simple! The Black Factory is an industry that runs on our prejudices. That means you don’t have to come to us, we come right to you! . . . We harvest all your confusions, questions and conundrums, and transform them into the greatest gift of all: possibility!”
October 21, 2019–February 1, 2020
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Pope.L
American, 1955–2023 33 works onlineFor 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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Participatory art
When artists include members of the public in their creative process and encourage them to become co-authors of the work.
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![Proletarian Intellectuals [Else Schuler, Tristan Rémy, Franz Wilhelm Seiwert, Gerd Arntz]](https://www.moma.org/media/W1siZiIsIjMyNDY2MCJdLFsicCIsImNvbnZlcnQiLCItcXVhbGl0eSA5MCAtcmVzaXplIDUxMng1MTJcdTAwM2UiXV0.jpg?sha=01800b3742a0ddcb)
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