Make It Work, Human Resources, 2014
Make it Work was performed at the art space, Human Resources in Chinatown, LA. It was apart of Kate Gilbert’s “ART SCHOOL” performance, in May of 2014.
With Make it Work, Hoffman created every rejected project proposal she had submitted since moving to Los Angeles, five years prior. In the span of three working gallery days, she manifested the projects that had been conceived of but never produced. The artworks were shown alongside some of the application documents, project statements and planning materials.
Four projects are presented here in the following order:
Fulbright to Budapest
Pirate Jenny's Dream Home
Constructing de(constructing) Chinatown
Members of the Search Committee
Starting with the oldest proposal first Hoffman sought to create a 2009 Fulbright proposal to study in Budapest, Hungary, a call for a 2010 exhibition proposal to be held at the Chinese American Museum, and a 2011 residency proposal to study with artist Rick Lowe at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida.
The three day performance concluded with a ritual commemoration to the time consumed and the lack of products created when applying for teaching positions in higher education. Titled, Members of the Search Committee, the artist printed out, (for the first time in a hard copy form), the paperwork that was produced to apply for ten teaching positions that year. Hoffman then dipped each sheet into beeswax; in order to transform the efforts that had previously only been measured in time, into something tangible, tactile and beautiful.