Editors' Note: When we decided to consider the work of William Pope.L, we invited the artist Rodney McMillian to contribute one of the essays. He chose to incorporate in his text an interview he conducted with artist and writer Michelle Grabner, originally intended as her contribution to a catalogue for an exhibition by Pope.L at Kenny Schachter ROVE Gallery in London (it was never published). Here, we reprint the interview followed by McMillian's later reflections on Pope.L's practice.

Rodney McMillian, January 2008

Pope.L was my bogeyman. I turned him into my bogeyman, almost a nemesis, when in fact the difference that divides us is one of ideology, not of desire. William Pope.L was my bogeyman because for me he embodied a belief that there is no way out of a black-and-white, binary existence. I believed Pope.L actively performed personas or actions to make apparent the fear, apathy, disgust, objectification, confusion, ambivalence many have towards the black male body. He is aware of and uses those understandings to challenge the historical reality of what it means to walk in this skin in America, and perhaps anywhere. However, I question whether his actions provide enough of a forum to address the complexities of contemporary representations in which skin colour is part of a much larger spectrum.

Asked to contribute some thoughts on Pope.L's work for Afterall, I wanted to continue from the earlier interview with Michelle Grabner because I had not stopped thinking about Pope.L's works or my responses to it. Why was I invested in a dialogue on work that I had found problematic on so many levels? I was reminded that art, ideas and politics are always