Carl-Erik Engqvist

Carl-Erik is a contemporary artist and Artistic Director at Humlab, where he mainly works with artistic perspectives on digital technology, which includes teaching, artistic research, daily routines and other projects.

Since 2006, he has been actively working with questions related to robotics, nano- and biotechnology, but also virtual worlds. Related to his own artistic work, the meeting point between spirituality and advanced technology, both contemporary and speculative, has been of great importance. These different technologies have on regular basis given him the opportunity and motivation to actively seek out collaborations, both within and outside the art world. This is a fundamental reason why he as an artist is active within Humlab, where he has been based since 2009, after his graduation from Umeå Academy of Fine Arts.

Another important driving force is to find new ways and platforms for artists, especially through conveying knowledge about digital technology and how it could be embedded into an artistic practice. Carl-Erik has a strong belief that art can build new perspectives in the fields that it is usually not connected to. At the same time, it can also show that research and technology have a potential to do the same for art.

In his work he is also driven by a strong love for both digital and analogue games, but also game development. Lately, his work is gradually moving towards investigating storytelling in the context of games.