Artists' statement

I use various fitness activities as the starting point in my artistic practise. On a private level I am interested in fitness per se, but in my artistic work my interest lies in how fitness culture can be used to raise issues about body politics, consumerism, the media and how these interact locally and globally in different cultural contexts.

My most recent artistic project 'Jogging in Four Exotic Cities', I travelled to cities in India, Mexico, Zambia and Jordan to jog and to have myself photographed. For seven days I jogged for one hour (approx. 12 kilometres). I used these jogs to scout for locations to shoot my photographs. I returned these locations were carefully selected in based on architecture ambience an flow of people to have myself photographed. The project has expanded and put emphasis on a discussion about documentary photography and questions about the 'other'. I want to point out that these images have no ambition to portray the life of the 'other', but rather as mirror for us westerns to question our relationship to the exotic and cultural difference. As my work has developed the emphasis on my persona has decreased.

In the early work I was central and took up a large part of the photographic surface.
In the recent work I am more an index figure and it can be hard to find me at first glance. This in order to focus more on the surroundings and the people around me. In my video work I focus more on my body and the videos which are often repetitive and deal more explicitly with sexuality.

In a recent projection piece entitled 'Investigations into A New Use of Pornography' I appear naked in the video doing push ups, sit ups and stretching. My body is covered in a syrupy substance and pornographic images stick to my body as I go about my program. The juxtaposition of images of the male and female bodies create a tension which furthers a discussion about context and the use of images in popular culture.
This video exemplifies how I work with video to raise questions about visual representations and gender related expectations. Both medias are very important in my practise and create a kind of dialogue where one medium acts as a sketchbook for the other and vice versa. I show both photography- and video work separately and sometimes after careful consideration together.

Per Hüttner Sveavägen 81 113 50 Stockholm Sweden T: +46 (0)8 31 74 71 (private), +46(0)70 728 00 18 (mobile), +46 (0)8 641 77 90 (Konstakuten) f: +46 (0)8 641 77 89 e: pah@swipnet.se
w: www.konstakuten.com