Make It Work, Human Resources, 2014
Constructing de(constructing) Chinatown
In 2010 there was a call for artists to contribute a proposal for an exhibition to be titled; "(de) Constructing Chinatown". In 2010 Hoffman proposed to build a cast-resin layered map revealing the geologic striations that rests under the site of Chinatown in Los Angeles as well as under the former site of Chinatown- that is now the location of Union Station. The surface treatment of this envisioned sculptural map, the artist was to re-create scenes in miniature from both the written and oral histories of those who lived and live in and on these locations. The sculptural map was to merge both the historical presence and past functions of the site with that of the current.
As it lands on the list of Hoffman's not accepted applications, it was only fitting to create it four years later for this series in an exhibition that is located in the current Chinatown. For the variation created at Make it Work, the sculpture is bordered by the path of the freeways, forming an identifiable V shape. The surface is marked with streets and built structures. The area that is now Union Station, has layers of broken domestic dishes in addition to rock under the area where the train station now rests.