Carl-Erik Engqvist

worlds. For a couple of years, I investigated the intersection between spirituality and advanced technology, seen from a contemporary and speculative perspective. In this context I experimented with creating symbiotic hybrids, that represented contemporary and future use of the sacred, but also related to the concept of the spiritual realm. 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 spiritual and sacred with creating or playing a game. The continuous recreation of myths and sagas, the game as a playful tool for investigating destiny, fate, roles and other more mundane aspects of the human existence, including the addictive elements of gaming. I have no idea where this investigation will lead me - but there is something in games that has not been reveled to me yet. Today I rather make a game than have an exhibition. I currently work as the Artist Director of Humlab, an interdisciplinary digital humanities laboratory at Umeå University (Sweden), where I on a regular basis collaborate with various professionals from the art world, the technical sector and academia. It is fun, but I prefer RPGs.