This spring, Pope.L will have an exhibition he describes as “an ambiloquy, a discourse on ambiguity,” at the Renaissance Society in Chicago, his current home. In December, I spoke to him via e-mail, at his request, and later, on the phone.

ROSS SIMONINI: Is your work a form of activism?

WILLIAM POPE.L: When people use the word activism today, it sounds like after-ism—something you do after, reactionary; or back-sterism—something you do backwards. The space I create in my work for others is more formalist, like, “change the world,” or, “change the frame on that painting.”

SIMONINI: Do you want to change the world?

POPE.L: I think that corporations and states have actually co-opted that phrase. I guess that phrase would be connected more to the ’60s. And I think, initially when I was using it, maybe 20 to 25 years ago, that co-optation wasn’t as clear or formidable as it is now. You have to respond to your times. But I think that phrase is connected to the idea of art transforming anything or the idea that radicality in small things is a revolution or the concept of being able to make a life less onerous by offering opportunities to that life.

SIMONINI: Is this what you mean when you say you want your work to be “socially responsible”?

POPE.L: Obama charms when he speaks of social responsibility, but in the art world today, it’s not sexy. A sexier phrase might be “social networking.” What is the difference between social responsibility and social networking? Well, the former requires that you show up, and the latter requires that you might have to buy an app for showing up.

SIMONINI: How did your thinking about The Great White Way change over the years it took to complete?

POPE.L: One of the problems with time-based endurance performances like my crawl works is they have this marvelous creamy nougat center operating inside the performer, and this space is unfortunately not available in the images and mythologies that surround the work. So, typically, the surface of the work becomes the life of the work. Most folks only get the neatness of the feat. How many miles? How much pain? How many people said or did not say this or that? I am not interested in that.

SIMONINI: Did you enjoy crawling through the streets? Do you enjoy making the work in general? Or is it not about enjoyment?

POPE.L: No, I did not enjoy crawling. Overall, I enjoy making work with others. I enjoy the small moments of revelation that are only possible in the company of others. I enjoy making a clear puzzle. I realize more and more that making is unmaking. To make something is to undo it. To make something is to make it less mysterious, that is, in the process of removing a veil, one of many. You gain more intimacy, but it may not be very pleasant.