AntiSuccess: Pretty Successful, Actually

Between April 2007 and April 2008, artist H. Mathis of Bucktown's Multi Polar Projects embarked on a series of Super Secret Art Interactions that involved -- as he puts it -- "secrecy, disguises, magic mustaches, and Craig's List." Mathis conducted "super secret" meetings at CTA blue line stops with random volunteers culled from a CL ad he posted. Arriving to the meeting in full disguise ("I will not be a creepy stalker, if you make the same agreement to me," he wrote to one female participant), Mathis then presented them with a their "portrait" -- a drawing made from details participants gave about their appearances. He then photographed each volunteer to see how close his portrait had come to the real person, before sending him or her and their "portrait" on their way. Only in January 2009 did Mathis finally reveal the project results to its subjects, some of whom had their initial meeting with Mathis more than a year and a half prior.

Recently Mathis released the photos and portraits in a 60-page book and DVD available at his online store. He's also launched a new website called AntiSuccess that provides photographs and background information on the Interactions and several other projects, including the Believe Inn gallery, OCD AOK and our favorite, The Dirt. For The Dirt, Mathis turned to Craig's List once again, posting ads asking people in all 52 states and U.S. territories to send him samples of earth. He then processed the samples and placed them on wooden cut-outs shaped like the 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico. One of the major lessons learned from the dirt collection process: that Hawaiian soil is cursed. "This makes a small stumbling block when you are trying to create a project with dirt from every state, especially if a curse from a volcano god inhibits your collection methods," Mathis points out. Perhaps that magic mustache can ward off those spirits.