The Black Factory William Pope.L

The Black Factory, an interactive art installation on wheels, rolls into Columbus as part of a national tour. Created by performance artist William Pope.L, the Factory was designed to spread a dialogue about race and democracy.

You're encouraged to participate! Come bearing objects that represent blackness to you, and they'll be incorporated into the art.

Presented by the Wexner Center and Ohio State's Department of Art. The Factory is a modified panel truck containing a gift shop, web kiosk, pulverization workshop, sound system, and inflatable igloo. Some objects from visitors are photographed and added to a virtual archive. Some are physically archived in the igloo. Others are pulverized and made into products to be sold in the gift shop. Still others are used by Factory workers in skits that combine ideas, sounds, and images to stimulate conversations.

The Factory also has a charitable side. "Twice-Sold" products—canned goods with Black Factory stickers and Pope.L's signature—are sold for $250 and up. Proceeds go to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio.

William Pope.L, the CEO, artist, and mastermind behind The Black Factory says "The Black Factory does not make blackness, it makes opportunity...the Factory is a conversation piece on wheels. It's a chance for folks to open up their hearts and minds, laugh and talk freely, maybe even disagree about what brings us together as well as what divides us."

Since 1978, William Pope.L has gained fame and notoriety for his sometimes controversial visual and performance art. His work was included in the 2002 Whitney Biennial. Pope.L is also a professor of theater and rhetoric at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.

Watch this page for updates. If the event is unable to begin by 3 pm due to inclement weather, it will be canceled.