Born in 2000 and raised in suburban Manila, Chia Amisola had unrestricted access to the internet from a young age. Inspired by the fansites and forums they visited, they started making websites when they were seven years old. “Being extremely Filipino and extremely online basically underpins everything I make,” Amisola says. Two years ago they graduated from Yale University, majoring in computing and the arts. For their undergraduate thesis they created Engine.lol, a game-maker for tiny browser-based games as well as a game in itself. 

In this virtual studio visit with Outland, Amisola delves into the particularities of their approach to making games and other online “assemblages.” For Amisola, these sites are an act of both personal expression and place-making, where moments of intimacy and connection can occur. The works often draw attention to their own browser-based environments, seeking to highlight the usually invisible or “ambient” qualities of the web. Amisola also discusses their recent desktop performances, which adapt the works for a live setting, and teases a forthcoming project: a thousand-page dating simulator entitled When We Love.