My name is Carl-Erik Engqvist, and I am a contemporary artist with a modest background in theology and philosophy. I have a Master in Fine Arts from the Umeå Academy of Fine Arts (graduated in 2009).
I started with painting and went over to sculpture. During my last years at the academy, I got interested in new media art, focusing on artificial intelligence, robotics, nano- and biotechnology, games, and virtual worlds. For a couple of years, I investigated the intersection between spirituality and advanced technology, seen from both contemporary reality and a speculative future perspective. In this context, I experimented with creating hybrids and meetings between spirituality, the sacred, and different forms of technology.
I usually call the above my pretentious period.
As an avid gamer and RPG player since childhood, I always loved and understood the multi-faceted artistic potential of games, but I never dared to go deeper into the process of creating them. However, I started to see that there was something deeply existential when you create or play a game. With the continuous recreation of myths and sagas, the game as a playful tool for investigating destiny, fate, roles, and other more mundane aspects of human existence. I have no idea where this investigation will lead me - but something in games has not been revealed to me yet.
Today I rather make a game than have an exhibition.
I work as the Artist Director of Humlab, an interdisciplinary digital humanities laboratory at Umeå University (Sweden). At Humlab, I regularly collaborate with professionals from the art world, the technical sector, and academia with research, projects, and outreach activities.