Curatorial Statement

The Virtual Institute of Simulation Art (VISA) is an online art center and gallery, currently displaying 4 WebVR collections: Crisis, Sanctuary, Oasis, and Unmapped. VISA allows viewers to travel to a “hyperreality” consisting of artist-designed simulated environments. The space was conceived by Leily Khatibi & Kiki Wu as a curatorial project. Our mission is to leverage digital art and collaboration through open-source, web-based, immersive media that is accessible to anyone with a computer and stable internet connection.A total number of 28 website-specific works are exhibited on visatopia.xyz from May 22, 2020 – April 27, 2022. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, new and experimental ways of sharing art online arises. In this gallery, a wide variety of responses to the current social and environmental changes are manifested as 3D renderings and video art. These pieces are created by Art75 students (Introduction to Digital Video Art class–sections 1 & 2, spring 2020) from CADRE New Media Lab, San José State University.