The Individual Collective In The Work of Matthew Hoffman By Alaska Noyes One thing for certain about Matthew Hoffman's work is that it is always thorough. From inception to presentation he instills patient consideration and unwavering craft, and his thoroughness doesn't stop with what can be seen on the wall. He continues beyond the object, creating an intriguing mise-en-scene of fact and fiction through the fabrication of artist pseudonyms. That final flourish of the signature at the end of every work is almost never his own. In effect, he spends a lot of time putting himself into what he does, and then attempts to remove himself, at least temporarily, through a miasma of aliases. This self erasure produces a strange chaos, a game that is more than an obvious trick and more than a deliberate deception. The title of his show, Multi Polar, alludes, tongue-in-cheek, to a fractured and discordant self, being pulled in various directions; a self with some rare synthesis of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Although Hoffman does have multifaceted interests there is not, to the best of my knowledge, any real psychological disturbance here. His personae are all consciously developed and for many logical reasons. In the case of Sighn, which originated as Hoffman's nom de guerre of the street art scene, there was obvious pressure to conceal his personal identity. A pseudonym in this arena is the status quo, like a c.b. handle or internet screen name. A certain amount of freedom is made available behind this Zoro's mask, and more than just freedom from disgruntled property owners or city clean-up crews. Producing works under aliases allows for freedom to experiment among genres, styles, and ideologies. For instance, the color pencil portraiture produced under Ervin is in direct contention with the linguistic work of Sighn which precludes any figuration. The biting sarcasm of H. Mathis' Limited Edition Email would never fly under the uplifting élan of Sighn. And Ervin's obsession with the "artist as media star" model would undoubtedly conflict with H. Mathis' "artist as craftsman" model. And all this bickering amongst fictitious personalities brings me to a common impetus for all of Hoffman's characters: spirited imagination, a proclivity for pretend, an attempt to move beyond the ordinary and make life a little more adventurous. Sure, you could produce disparate artworks all under the same name, but where's the fun in that? Where is the mystery? Would Andy Kaufman's cantankerous alter ego have as much impact if there was no mystery as to whom he was? Of course, no matter how disparate these pseudonymous artists become they are always linked by an underlying rhizomatic thread, Hoffman himself; with his own interests and concerns. Hoffman is very much aware of the market's influence on contemporary art in recent years. The ubiquity of artworks turning into branded commodities, with the artist's name being the means of distinction. Content is pushed aside as dealers purchase works en masse before they are created. Financial success and critical attention are given to those with the right name, regardless of quality or content of work. Under such circumstances the power of the art itself is subordinated. In an attempt to deviate from these norms, Hoffman creates work behind a smoke screen of pseudonyms. Not that he is against success, he just wants it on his terms. Like Duchamp's infamous Fountain exhibited in 1917 under an alias, R. Mutt, with the primary motive of getting an unbiased, spontaneous reaction unencumbered by the inevitable baggage his real name would have carried. Hoffman would probably also agree with Duchamp when he said, "It's the viewer who makes the work". This is evident in Hoffman's constant effacement of himself and elevation of others, be they fictitious personae or real-life collaborators. The Dirt Project was a culmination of an immense collaborative effort of, well over fifty individuals from coast to coast. The innumerable tiny portraits by Ervin would not have been possible without the passive participation of all those depicted. And no work at all would be possible without assistance of you, the viewer/reader. So why come out into the open now? Why lift the veil of mystery and reveal the man behind the curtain? Hoffman assures me in an ideal world he wouldn't. The problem is, so far, he hasn't come up with a viable way to be active in the art scene and completely elude everyone's attention, at least not forever. In a way, this is yesterdays news, and this show is just an official revealing of identities that have been slowly leaking out for quite some time now. Hoffman also assures me that, although he is letting a few pseudonymous cats out of the bag, he has plenty more up his sleeve. I am sure he does, and I'm sure he will continue eluding the art authorities and evading their always treacherous pigeon-holes for quite some time.