PETRI HYTÖNENGTA-Saga 9.2.2008 – 2.3.2008

I have been playing computer -and videogames through their existence. This new world was and is a fantasy world to escape the reality, to relax, to forget, to be alone and to examine things you never would... It enables you to co-operate interactively with the machine and also to play in a group.

As one of my absolute favorites I would mention the old Commodore "Winter Olympic Games", a classic from the eighties with its simple graphics with bright colors and simple tasks to measure your reactivity. From the nineties I found with the help of my son a new adventurous heroine called "Tomb Raider" better known as Lara Croft. This game had already the best that the 3D-graphics could offer and it fascinated with its multicultural and visually rich environments. But the deepest fascination I have found so far in the videogame called "GTA", especially in the perfect design of the environments where you can virtually move with different vehicles as much as you like and all your deeds are still your own decisions. And the wicked thing is that you have to become a "bad" boy to go forward in this game - otherwise you have to push the "Quit"-button... But after you have chosen to be a "bad" boy the fun starts and you can start to think, while playing, what your values are in your real life. And this has been to me one of the greatest introductions to start realizing the philosophy and values of the western life form.

First, there was a "You take care of what your kids are playing" period and then after this came a "playing some games together with your friends and children" period, which changed little by little into a new form : seeing myself playing and painting this new virtual world, scenes from GTA "Vice City", "Liberty City Stories" and "St Andreas".

Through painting different episodes of GTA I left the real world for about one year. And for a 44-year-old guy it is a long time of your life. But in this painting and playing-process I have found many new sides of human beings which normally wouldn´t appear in our everyday behaviour. And it is not just shooting, killing, stealing, driving, completing various criminal tasks but also friendship, trust, rescuing, independency, healthy suspicion in social life, dating, new perspectives even just in physical dimension, extreme virtual experiences like flying etc...

And by playing, researching and painting this world of videogames called "GTA" I have had my motives only in my studio - just around me. And this has made the work really introvert and an exciting dive into deep waters ...

Petri Hytönen