Encountering a wild animal recalls on some of our oldest instincts, where wonder precedes any human invention. It’s a simple emotion, a basic reaction. However, when such a rendezvous occurs within the frame of civilization, it adds to the element of unforeseen mystery. Being visited by a wild animal in our backyards is possible, but seldom expected, and thus often awe-inspiring in all its natural simplicity.
Laura Heuberger
is a young Swiss/Italian artist currently based in Umeå, Sweden. She studied New Technologies for the Arts and New Media in Bologna, Milan and Tallinn during her BA, and recently finished her MA in Fine Arts in Umeå, Sweden. She is interested in themes surrounding cybernetics, storytelling and human cognition, and produces works in digital form occasionally complemented by an installation.
Curator spring 2019: Carl Erik Engqvist
He is a contemporary artist and the Artistic Director of Humlab, an interdisciplinary digital humanities laboratory placed in Umeå, Sweden.
Since 2006, he has been working with concepts and perspectives related to artificial intelligence, robotics, nano-, and biotechnology, games and virtual worlds. Investigating the meeting point between spirituality and high technology, both contemporary and speculative, is of of great importance for his work. He is also driven by a strong interest in games and game development, both digital as well as analogue. Engqvist believes that the multi-medial nature of games has a strong potential, both as contemporary artistic projects and as pedagogical tools.
The different technologies and the variety of challenges connected to them have regularly given him the opportunity and motivation to collaborate with various professionals both within and outside of the art world. The human factor is a fundamental reason why he, as an artist, is working within Humlab, where he has been based since his M.F.A. graduation from the Umeå Academy of Fine Arts in 2009.
Currently he is focusing on discerning the artistic use and risks with artificial intelligence.