Luisa Hübner: Objectophile
March 4th, 2022
Vienna based photographer Luisa Hübner looks at the world through an absurdist lens. Interested in the inherent juxtaposition within domestic activities, her unique brand of pastel coloured surrealism is a playful take on the everyday experience. We joined Luisa through the looking glass, to learn more about her style, influence, performativity and what it means to be “in love with objects”.
POL: First up, can you introduce yourself to our readers and how you would describe your art?
LH: My name is Luisa Hübner and I am an objectophile turned artist, creating minimalistic on-camera-only performances with objects on and in relation to my body.
POL: What drew you to using photography in your practise?
LH: I am in love with objects and the material world. Instead of being interested in an object's function I am interested in its absurd inherent possibilities. I like to capture and aestheticise that search for possibilities with my camera.
POL: Your work is highly performative, focusing a lot on gesture and pose, how did you find and refine this style?
LH: As everyone I am influenced by contemporary pop culture, advertising, fashion photography etc…
POL: You often put yourself into the frame in your works, what drew you to using your own body in your photography?
LH: There are two reasons: firstly it is about availability; secondly, I am using my art to reflect autobiographical experiences so it makes sense to use my own body.
“I am using my art to reflect and manipulate my physical perception. But, at the same time, I am also exploring my psychological state during that process.”
POL: There is something intriguing about putting yourself both in front of and behind the lens, a self-portrait can often reveal something deep about the artist, are you using your works as a form of introspection?
LH: Exactly. I am using my art to reflect and manipulate my physical perception. But, at the same time, I am also exploring my psychological state during that process.
In my work I test myself and my own physicality - for example, what happens in a psychological sense if you can’t see anything? or if you cannot use your fine motor skills?
POL: We’ve seen the phrase "manipulating perception” used to define your work, what does this mean to you and your practise?
LH: It can mean different things. To give you an example: I used my object “bubble glasses” in order to experience the condition of not being able to see. But, at the same time, it is my decision if and when I am wearing these glasses. That’s why I am also using the term of "staging a controlled loss of control".
POL: Your colour palette is really interesting, it’s sparse, gentle and focuses on a lot on pinks and blues. What drew you to this colour scheme?
LH: In my photo series “bubbles” I just started to work with the clothes I wear in my everyday life. I have a crush on pastel colours, I guess.
POL: You use pink very frequently, and it is such a gendered colour, how do you feel about the use of pink to represent your take on femininity?
LH: I used the colour pink for the “kitchen” series exactly because it’s connected to femininity and the series is about questioning the stereotype of the housewife. But for me tones of pink are also about flesh and skin, so it’s also a bodily colour.
“You can find absurdity everywhere, so I just bring what I experience in everyday life into my artwork.”
POL: Your work communicates with a sense of humour and fun. How do you bring this into your work?
LH: If you open up you will find a lot of situations to be very absurd. You can find absurdity everywhere, so I just bring what I experience in everyday life into my artwork - from absurdity in my physical condition, to absurdity as mental viewpoint in general.
POL: Do you think humour is something missing from popular photography?
I am not sure if it is something missing from popular photography for me a use of humour really depends on the intentions of the artist. Also to say something is “humourous” is a subjective reading and relies a lot on the taste of the viewer.
POL: There is a sharper edge to your surrealism too, as a playful aesthetic can often be deeply political. Are you consciously making a political statement with your works?
LH: If you consider aestheticising the weird to be political, then yes. Most of my settings are domestic and so my images might be seen like a resistance to ordinariness.
My “kitchen” series was constructed to be political as I am questioning the paradox of "non-work" of traditionally female domestic activities. Retaining and maintaining the "status quo" of a household is neither considered as work nor appreciated, I made my images as a way of rejecting any expectations of my time being “valuable” in that sense.
“Most of my settings are domestic and so my images might be seen like a resistance to ordinariness.”
POL: You’ve spoken previously about being an “objectophile” and in your work “decontextualising objects”, what draws you to certain pieces? Is it the object itself or the action the object implies?
LH: Both! I am looking for vintage objects with an inherent life and story. But I am also looking for anthropomorphic qualities as well, I like to find forms and details that resonate with the human body. And, of course, the right color is important.
POL: You’re not only a photographer but also create sculpture and video, how do your different practices inform each other?
LH: Sometimes the objects work as stand-alone sculptures, in other cases I am using the objects for my performative play (for example my “bubble glasses”).
I also work a lot with body metaphors in my objects, like how my inflatable “mellow jello” has 12 “ribs”.
POL: Your work can feel like film or advertising stills, are you looking to moving image for influence?
LH: I love movies, despite the fact that it got a lot trickier to go to the cinema during these Covid times.
I haven’t considered my work to be cinematic yet, but maybe that impression occurs because I am trying to reflect performative processes.
POL: Are you influenced by any other particular artists?
LH: Other photographers/artists who have inspired me are for example Antoine d'Agata and Elina Brotherus (“do something and capture it with your camera”) or Rebecca Horn (“do something with sculptures and objects”). For me it is about getting inspired by interesting aspects of other's work, to integrate these into my art practice and create something "own" out of it.
POL: For our international readers, can you tell us what the photography scene is like in Vienna right now?
LH: There is a really lively art and photography subculture in Vienna as it locates two amazing art universities (the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and the University for Applied Arts) and a lot of galleries, as well as museums. There is almost always something going on somewhere in the city.
POL: How did Covid and the Pandemic effect your work and creating?
LH: Some of the circumstances from the Pandemic did influence my work in an indirect way. I didn’t spend the time creating with the intention to do something “pandemic”, but, for example the kitchen theme tied in with how people were spending their time - who did not try to bake bread during the first lockdown?
Other themes I dealt with in my work were the topics of waiting and boredom, which you can see in my “home alone” series. The last two years felt like the temporalization of a waiting room.
Both series work independently from Covid too though.
“The last two years felt like the temporalization of a waiting room.”
POL: What would be your dream project, if money and time where no object?
LH: I would open a mobile pop-up art space in a modified Airstream caravan.
POL: What are you working on now? What’s Next?
LH: I want to continue the Home Alone photo series and I am working on an installation which reflects the themes of waiting and boredom in a domestic setting.
About Luisa Hübner
Luisa Hübner works with photography, video and objects, constructing surreal settings that explore the subconscious.
Luisa Hübner studied at the Schule Friedl Kubelka for Artistic Photography and since 2016 at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. She took part in exhibitions such as CLITICAL TALK at Improper Walls and PARALLEL VIENNA art fair. Her photo series KITCHEN was shortlisted for the Belfast Photo Festival 2021, in the same year she was awarded by the Hoepfner Foundation. Her work has been published in the FRESH EYES TALENTS 2021 Edition for new European photography. She is a member of the Kuenstlerhaus, Association of Austrian Fine Art.