Tzara & Pope L

Tristan Tzara, a Romanian and French poet was best known for being one of the founders of the anti-establishment Dada movement. Tzara was also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic. William Pope was an African American artist, who was best known for his work in performance art and interventionist public art. Here is a brief conversation between the two as they critique each others work.

Tzara: “It seems as if your work centers on African American people and other races within our society. Why do you focus your work on this issue?”

Pope: “Racism and culture are key issues in our society, so I don’t think that I need to focus my efforts on other issues. The African American culture has always been a huge interest to me so, that is where I like to focus my work on. African Americans have made tremendous strides in the last century and many of us have become prominent in the United States today.”

Tzara: “What did you mean when you wrote; Black People are a positive cancer?”

Pope: “Black people do a lot of things that are cancerous to our society, however, we can learn from those things and become better people because of the lessons that we learn from them.”

Tzara: “How about when you wrote, “Black People are in the Building?”

Pope: “Black people make their appearances felt. We are boisterous, and we are not afraid to show our emotion. That is a great attribute to have and show off to others.”

Tzara: “What about when you wrote, “Black people are children.”

Pope: “We are childish yet mature. We can be mischievous, yet very sophisticated. I know a lot of grown black adults who act immature yet, are very successful in their chosen professions.”

Tzara: “How about the comment, “Black people are glass?”

Pope: “Black people are very tough in nature. We don’t back down from anything or anybody. You can’t break us, so that is why I made the comparison to glass.”

Tzara: “What did you mean when you made the statement, “Black people are the cupola?”

Pope: “A cupola is a dome like structure that is on top of buildings. We are leaders by nature and so, we are on top of things. That is why I made that analogy.”

Tzara: “What about when you said, “Black people are the Christmas tree in the driveway.”

Pope: “Black people light up the household. We are friendly, outgoing, and are fun people to be around.”

Tzara: “You are known for your famous street crawls. Tell me a little more about these experiences.”

Pope: “It’s what I do. I began in the late 1970’s, and I’ve now had over 40 endurance based performances, which consist of crawls that vary in length and duration. In 2001, I crawled 22 miles through the streets of New York City, which took five years to complete. For this performance, which was titled The Great White Way, I wore a Superman outfit and I strapped a skateboard to my back. I also once wore a business suit, and crawled through the gutter in Tompkins Square Park, New York, and I pushed a potted flower at the same time with one hand.”

Tzara: “Well, I like to focus my work around the dada manifesto. Dadaism began in Switzerland during World War I. This movement focused primarily around poetry, visual arts, literature, and graphic design. Dada represents anti-war and peace movements to put an end to violent conflict.”

Pope: “Are there any other areas that you focus on?”

Tzara: “Towards the end of my career, I combined a humanist and anti-fascist perspective with a communist vision to my work.