Detlef Schlich

I am an interdisciplinary artist and ritual designer working with performance, photography, painting, sound, installations and film. My main concern is the exploration of the loss of boundaries between human beings and technology in the 21st Century, the emerging phenomenon of transhumanism in the digital age.

My methodology is the creation of an alter ego, a mythical character, a contemporary manifestation of transhumanism which embodies the symbiotic relationship between the human experience and technology. Through these alter egos I can explore this fatalistic relationship in which human beings are losing their spirituality and seek methods of re-spiritualization through art.

In my studio, I use ritual performance footage as a source of inspiration. I then work with digital and physical media collaging both the charcoal, acrylics and digital to create a final piece of visual work.

EDUCATION
2012-2016 DIT, West Cork, Sherkin Island – 3rd Level Degree in Visual Art (BAVA)
2011-2012 Rossa College – Professional Art Practice – Fetac Level 6
2010-2011 Rossa College – Art, Craft & Design – Fetac Level 5

RESEARCH
BA Visual Art DIT/Sherkin Island
• Thesis – Shamanism, Art and Digital Culture: Cause and Effect
• Essay – The Question Concerning Technology – ‘But where the danger is, grows the saving power also.’ This paper discusses Martin Heideggers´ essay, ‘The Question Concerning Technology’, written in 1953. I will critically assess Heideggers´ description regarding the ambivalent value of technology, using a quotation from the poet Friedrich Hölderlin as a reference point.
• Essay – What is an Author? An Essay Exploring The Definition Of The Role Of The Author In Postmodern Culture

Essay´s for Art Appreciation, Rossa College Fetac Level VI
• Essay – The Organic and the Surreal – Investigating Max Ernst, Gaudi and H.R. Giger.
• Artist Talk Review – Eilis O´Connell talked about her life and Part Haptic. An exhibition of sculptures at the West Cork Art Centre Skibbereen.
• Masterpiece – A historical and visual exploration of “Christ carrying the cross” by Hieronymus Bosch.