By Daniel Hartill,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – William Pope.L knows that his art – from expansive gallery shows to mounds of secondhand underwear – needs a little explanation.

When he first tried crawling the sidewalks of New York City’s Broadway, wearing a Superman suit and rolling on a skateboard, he would try to answer people’s questions.

It takes too much time, he soon learned. And on some level, it’s not as much fun.

As an African-American man periodically donning a cape to satirize Broadway and its nickname, “The Great White Way,” Pope.L knows he gets stares. Eventually, people catch on, though.

“You want to create a context for what you do,” he told attendees Thursday at the Great Falls Forum.

Each work he does tries to encourage social change, he said. In essence, he has a message. “Some people say it’s unfashionable,” said Pope.L, who is 49. “I don’t care about that.”

A native of Newark, N.J., he was born William Pope.L. His mother abbreviated the family’s last name, Lancaster, to the letter L. He tries to do work that helps people see things from new perspectives, he said. At his best, he knows his mother and grandmother are proud of him.

One instance is his current work, titled “The Black Factory.”

Making over a plumber’s homemade RV and adding an inflatable igloo-shaped trailer, the project is a rolling museum, gift shop and performance art stage.

Currently on display at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, Mass., the factory is used by Pope.L and several actors to challenge people. They are faced with donated artifacts – articles that suggest African-American culture – and acting routines.

“It asks, If we had the opportunity to get beyond racism in this country, where would we go?'” Pope.L said.

“It’s about making connections with people,” he said.

It’s an issue he takes on with playfulness and humor. The factory exhibit is accompanied by the slogan, “We make opportunity, not blackness.”

His humor, mixed with message, can be found again and again in his work, including an installation titled “Lewiston.”

In this one, he displayed secondhand underwear purchased from local thrift stores. It’s meant to be funny while also reflecting the bodies that inhabited each piece of clothing.

“It’s a writing tablet for your body,” he said, showing a slide of the artwork on a big screen. “Your underwear gets to know you and you get to know it.”

For another slide, he offered no explanation.

“That was me,” he said, pointing out the image of a man sitting in an easy chair in the center of a gallery floor. When the photograph was taken, the camera had glimpsed only the back of Pope.L’s head, clad in a Santa cap.

“I tried to levitate a bottle of Milk of Magnesia,” he said.

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