Featuring Exotopia, presented by the SETI Institute with Scott Kildall; and San José​ Stories: The Vietnamese Diaspora, as part of Stories from the Farther Shore: Southeast Asian Film.

Art and technology converge at the San José Museum of Art (SJMA) for Third Thursday on March 21, 5–9:30pm. This iteration of Third Thursday features Exotopia, a virtual reality installation where visitors can explore all known exoplanets, presented by the SETI Institute in collaboration with artist Scott Kildall; and San José​ Stories: The Vietnamese Diaspora, a video mapped installation of individual interviews with San José’s multigenerational Vietnamese American community by artist and SJSU professor Robin Lasser. Admission includes entry to both events and exhibitions on view. Tickets are $5 after 5pm, free to Museum members, students and teachers with ID, and youths 17 years and under. Tickets are available at the door and online at sjmusart.org/march2019.

Schedule of events:

6–9pm

Exotopia generates a universe of extra-solar worlds based on mass, proximity to their sun, orbital path, and their habitability index. Participants can navigate through this virtual reality experience, which also acts as a map to future exploration of the galaxy. Exotopia is produced in collaboration with Scott Kildall and Franck Marchis, Senior Planetary Astronomer, SETI Institute. Exotopia is a New Terrains: Mobility and Migration program.

8–9:30pm

Part of Robin Lasser’s ongoing project Migratory Cultures, San José Stories: The Vietnamese Diaspora, features stories and interviews of migration, revealing the complex narrative of the largest Vietnamese community in the United States. The video mapped installation will be projected onto SJMA’s entrance and the surrounding façade. San José​ Stories: The Vietnamese Diaspora is commissioned by SJMA and presented as part of Stories from the Farther Shore: Southeast Asian Film.

Visitors are also welcome to see the following exhibitions on view:

• Dinh Q. Lê: True Journey is Return, on view through April 7, 2019. Internationally-renowned artist Dinh Q. Lê’s exhibition entwines rarely heard narratives of war and migration from people in North Vietnam, the Vietnamese diaspora, and refugees who, like Lê, have returned to live in their home country;
• Conversion: Art and Engineering, on view through April 7, 2019. Explore the intersection of art and engineering from SJMA’s permanent collection;
• Undersoul: Jay DeFeo, on view through July 7, 2019. This focused exhibition highlights Jay DeFeo’s prolific use of photography to track the artist’s visual vocabulary across media and subject matter.

SAN JOSÉ MUSEUM OF ART

The San José Museum of Art reflects the diverse cultures and innovative spirit of Silicon Valley. Through its exhibitions, programs, scholarship, and collections, SJMA connects the present and the past, the art of the West Coast and the world. The Museum fosters awareness of artists’ broad contributions to society and engages audiences with the art of our time and the vitality of the creative process.

The San José Museum of Art is located at 110 South Market Street in downtown San José, California. The Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11am to 5pm and until 8pm or later on the third Thursday of each month. As of Friday, February 1, 2019, SJMA is also free to all on the first Friday of each month from 5–9pm.

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Programs at the San José Museum of Art are made possible by generous operating support from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Yvonne and Mike Nevens, a Cultural Affairs grant from the City of San José, and the Richard A. Karp Charitable Foundation.