A day in the studio with: Zac Hoffman

I drove my car on a sunny afternoon for about one hour. It was a really beautiful day with blue skies and for all the drive I didn't have to stop once for a red traffic light. The landscape changed from town to farmland, farmland to town, town to farmland. Old men with hats on sat at the small roadside cafes and watched the world go by, while their ladies hung the laundry outside. Bamboo was waving in the wind and a mild breeze entered my open window. I felt the presence of the weekend feeling coming in, it was a Friday. A smooth ride. 

Almost at my final destination, I stopped at a gas station. I was thirsty for a Coca-Cola, and I thought Zac might want one, too. He is an American; every American loves Coca-Cola, right? I greet the lady behind the counter with a smile and a charming “Boa tarde”. Then I take off again with two Coca-Colas on my passenger seat.

The last 5 minutes before arriving at his studio in Encarnacao I thought about what I was going to ask him, I didn't exactly know what to expect from this day, I had only seen a few small pictures on Zac’s Instagram and learned that he was currently participating in a residency programme with Res Lisbon. During this time, Zac had already produced work for a show in Beirut. Now he was preparing new paintings for a solo show in Milan for the next year. But that's pretty much all. I conclude, that I'm just going to film him with my camcorder and ask silly questions in between. Here is what happened.