Hassan Grad Research Assignment: Discussion Questions on Article or Essay

Pope L., William. William Pope. L : The Friendliest Black Artist in America. By Mark H. Bessire. New York: MIT P, 2002.

The Article is entitled Bocio.

In the article William Pope L. asks the question whether or not he as an African-American can appropriate bocio for his own uses as an artist. He did not come up with the original association between his own work and the concept of bocio; Cair Crawford has done this for him. Bocio translates to “empowered cadaver” and comes from West Africa, its traditions similar to voodoo. My question is: At what point can you claim and therefore take ownership to a concept that someone else places on your work? This I find as a paradox of intention vs. interpretation. Pope L. posits this “Why look a gift horse in the mouth?” meaning if someone finds something of interest in your work that was unintended the best answer is to try and understand what that means and what it ultimately means or can mean for yourself. I think part of the idea of writing this article was to express just this point. To be on the record on having thought about it and therefore making an attempt to speak to the claims that this other person has staked upon his work. It is not to deny or demean but simply to weigh in on the idea. I say to not demean, in that Pope L. recognizes that he is not a scholar in the field of bocio or West-African studies. He knows what he knows. This also speaks to the notion he expresses a concern as how to separate what his interpretation will and can be from the expectations of others knowledgeable or not.
In his article Pope L. talks about the need and uses of masks employed by black people in this country over the years. Is the aim of the article to simply answer a simple claim about the relationship of Pope L.’s work and bocio or is there some other aim at work? I feel that there is a fair connection that should be made between the idea of adopting an idea or concept when someone else has struck a new claim of knowing what your work is about. An easy way of approaching this subject is to speak of the “sell-out.” Ms. Crawford has asserted this so-called connection to bocio in Pope L.’s work and he certainly has a right to accept or defend his work against such a claim. There is a sense that such an endorsement in the form of academic interest only lends Pope L. more credibility in scholarly and artistic communities. Pope L. seems to take this opportunity to point out this odd boon if you will. The opportunity to don a mask of cultural acceptability. Pope L. uses examples like Cab Calloway, Bert Williams and Jean-Michel Basquit who all in a way (you might say) sold out to a persona, one that was offered by mass culture/dominant culture. The opportunity of the mask such as outsider artist, minstrel, and showman would provide the assurance of work and pay if not the ability to pursue ones craft. But each had its drawbacks, their own limitations even if one eventually rose above them. Bert Williams for example performed in black face because it was unacceptable for several years for a black entertainer to be less black than the black make up that comprised the “black face.” Each instance or mask reduces the artist down to a single dimension rooted in some sort of primal simplification. So Pope L. Seems to answer the complexity of the gift horse that is bocio, this ancient mysterious thing, in a way that is on one hand reluctant acceptance but also a vigorous challenge as well. After all it is a little weird “that one of them [white people] knows more about me than I do?”