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About | Hope Hutman
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Bio

Hope Hutman (she/they) is an Oakland-based artist, producer, and speaker whose work examines the impact of technology on culture and the evolving nature of human experience. Influenced by Relational Aesthetics and the Post-Internet movement, Hutman employs media like VR/AR/XR, games, and code to craft immersive installations and performances that critically engage our relationship with technology.

Hutman's practice invites audiences to actively engage with concepts of selfhood and agency, blurring the lines between the physical and virtual realms. Their work is in the permanent collection of North Carolina State University's iPearl Immersion Theater and has been supported by an artist residency at the Barnard Movement Lab, where they developed the mixed-reality performance "Your Mind, Girls…".

Their exhibitions and performances have been presented at venues including Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Williamstown Theater Festival, CounterPulse, and Gray Area (SF). A recognized voice in digital culture, they have spoken at international conferences such as VRTO, HASTAC, Silicon Valley Code Camp, and Digital Hollywood. Hutman is also the creator of "Instastream," a visual storytelling app for citizen journalists.

Hutman holds an MFA in Digital Art and New Media from UC Santa Cruz, a BA in English Literature from Grinnell College, and is a 2024 cohort member of the prestigious Beth Morrison Projects: Producer Academy. A passionate mentor for organizations like Girls Write Now, Hutman is dedicated to fostering the next generation of creators and serves on the board of the Immersive Art Alliance.

Artist Statement

Storytelling, at some level, is a means of cultural preservation and instilling moral values. The stories we are told, and that we tell, shape us and shape our world. Advances in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Augmented Reality, and Virtual Reality are making the “virtual” feel more and more like the “natural.” It’s getting harder and harder to parse out the “secret cause” of the maker. And the implications of these hidden (or at least undisclosed) agendas, and how they affect us, are profound. My work addresses the question, What happens to autonomy in a reality managed by algorithms?

My current work considers that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) might salvage the planet, even as it radically changes what it means to be human. Imagine an intelligence free of cultural expectations, religious beliefs, and tribal affiliations. This contrasts sharply with humanity's track record: As humans, we've largely failed to harness our unique human capacities for autonomy, critical thinking, and self-determination.

Through immersive, technologically-mediated environments, my practice critically investigates these questions. I often employ Extended Reality (XR) in installations and performances to construct speculative realities and layered archives of collective memory. My intention is to prompt viewers to confront our complicity and question the very nature of free will.  We believe in autonomy but we don’t act on it. Therefore, genuine systemic change remains an illusion.

CV

Awards & Residencies
2025 | Artist-In-Residence, Movement Lab, Barnard College, New York, NY
2016-2017 | Artist-In-Residence, Games & Visual Narrative Lab, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
2017 | Permanent Collection Acquisition, iPearl Immersion Theater, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

 

Selected Projects: Performance & Installation (Lead Artist)
2025 | Your Mind, Girls… Movement Lab, Barnard College, NY.
Live mixed-reality performance developed during artist residency.
2023 | Your Mind, Girls, Is The First Battleground For Freedom Paul Dresher Studio.
In-theater technology workshop and public prototype for a mixed-reality narrative.
2017  | (Not So) Silent Movie iPearl Immersion Theater, North Carolina State University
Interactive installation where visitors remix Western film clips to create and screen new narratives.
2016 | Twitch Odyssey , Twitch.tv + DARC Lab
Live-streamed interactive performance using real-time audience content.
2015 | Multivalent, Digital Arts Research Center, University of California, Santa Cruz
Participatory installation exploring social psychology using sound, dance, and interactive video.
2014 | Jackson Always, DARC Lab, University of California, Santa Cruz
Interactive installation exploring the Krasner-Pollock legacy through archival audio and touch-screen interfaces.

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Selected Projects: Performance & Installation (Collaborating Artist)

2014 | Redhand Legacy, Williamstown Theater Festival
Transmedia Narrative Consultant
2014  | CONTACT Project, CounterPulse, SF
Lead Intermedia Designer
2013 | Krispy Kritters in the Scarlett Night, Cutting Ball Theater
Interactive Pre-Show Designer
2013 | O Best Beloved, SF Fringe Festival
Interactive Pre-Show Designer
2012 | Within The Wheel, Ragged Wing Ensemble
Lead Intermedia Designer

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IOS App

2019 "Instastream" Visual storytelling app for citizen journalists, enabling live broadcasts with still images.

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Exhibitions

2023 Open MetaVerse, Grey Area, San Francisco

2018 (Not So) Silent Movie Installation, iPearl Immersion Theater, Raleigh, NC


2016 Out of Frame, Curated by Belinda Haikes and Gaby Heit, Philadelphia, PA

2014 Field of Inquiry: Body Politic Edition Installations, YBCA, San Francisco, CA


2013 Array, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA

2012 Solo Show: Garage Gallery, Berkeley, CA

2012 Group Show, Jerry Adams Gallery, Berkeley, CA

2010 Green, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
 

Presentations and Talks


2025 VRTO, Spacial Computing and World Building, speaker
2017 HASTAC, The Possible Worlds of Digital Humanities, presenter

2016 BlindSpot, Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, speaker

2013 Silicon Valley Code Camp, speaker

2012 Transmedia SF, panelist, "Meet The Makers"

2011 Digital Hollywood, panelist "Transmedia Storytelling: Inventing the language of
 Cross-Platform, Non-Linear Narration”

2010 Content Summit, NY, panelist, "Transmedia Storytelling: Crossing the Line Toward Infinity And Beyond, The Fabric of Dreams: Games Graphic Novels, Animation, Social Marketing, Web, Social TV, Movies, and Apps”
 

Education

Beth Morrison Projects: Producer Academy 2024 Cohort
MFA, Digital Art and New Media
, University of California, Santa Cruz


BA, English Literature
, Grinnell College

Full Stack Web Development, Wyncode Academy
 Coding Bootcamp

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Volunteer

  • Board Member, Immersive Art Alliance


  • Mentor, Girls Write Now

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