BRIEF INTERVIEW: THE ARTIST ROBERT HOFFMANN IN CONVERSATION
ONLY ART CLUB (OAC): How do you define your artistic style?
Robert Hoffmann: The definition of my style is a bit harder for me. Because of the techniques and elements that define my works, I speak of Urban Contemporary.
OAC: How do your works come about, explain your work processes a little closer?
Robert Hoffmann: My works / series are created in several steps or the creation process is divided into several segments. I start with the topic, the context that the new work should convey, followed by the research on the topic. After that, I determine which materials and colors are used on the basis of the intended effect and aesthetics. After these theoretical steps, the practical and often intuitive process of applying, pasting over, tearing, rearranging and grinding follows, until the result signals to me: "Stop". Currently, this expression finds in the form of typography and the inclusion of symbols. Above all, these symbols are currently very exciting for me. For one thing, they have an international recognition value. In addition, they stand in different cultures partly for very different meanings. The use of different materials allows me to send the viewer on a journey of discovery, depending on how close or far away they look at the work. The stacking and subsequent destruction of the surface by the grinding process or the tearing off can be completely new connections arise. I like to compare this with the phenomenon of silent post.
OAC: What are your sources of inspiration, where do you get your ideas from?
Robert Hoffmann: Social media and the way we communicate with each other today have a great fascination for me. Cultural currents as well as the different stories and events that define and shape us form another source for my work. And interpersonal relationships and the concern with self-awareness play a role. In general, I am concerned with the way in which information (and through the history of humanity) is filtered and relayed today. These fragments, which, depending on their motivation, are put together, changed and brought to absurdity form the foundation of my works. Another important source is public places and how they are used to represent or criticize positions. The aesthetics that arises in such places through the constant overwriting, pasting over, strikethrough, tearing off, widening, etc., can be found in my works.
OAC: Who are your (artistic) role models and what would you like to ask them?
Robert Hoffmann: Raymond Hains, Mark Bradford, Jacques de la Villeglé, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Antoni Tàpies, Gerhard Richter, Mark Rothko, Paul Klee, Jackson Pollock and my professor John Teschendorff, among whom I studied as a master student, are the most formative Role models for my creative work. I would ask her what her creative process looks like and what she thinks is the most important tool to stay creative.
