Truth and Time might be somewhat ridiculous if it wasn’t so painful, so brutal in crushing hope beneath history, putting black history—with its roots in slavery and genocide—up for sale. More collaged text reads: “Enter Pepsi’s ‘Standing Proud’ Sweepstakes celebrating Black History Month. . . .” No purchase necessary perhaps, but the transactions in black bodies crucial for the very development of capitalism were made centuries ago. Such contradictions proliferate in Truth and Time and throughout Pope.L’s work. Peanut butter may be an intentionally base material to use in an artwork, but it’s also a low-cost form of nutrition. Its smell makes the piece visceral, connecting it to Pope.L’s interest in performance and the body. Combining peanut butter with the specific imagery it surrounds can’t also help but evoke George Washington Carver—peanut pioneer, personally inspirational entrepreneurial figure for both African Americans and whites, and politically compromised accommodationist.