In 2021, the U.S Border Patrol reported over 1.6 million encounters with migrants at the U.S-Mexico border, the highest on record.
The story of migration is one of the oldest in the book, and Carne y Arena (Virtually Present, Physically Invisible) explores it in a groundbreaking virtual reality exhibition by Academy Award-winning director Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman).
Presented by the Nasher Sculpture Center in partnership with the George W. Bush Presidential Center, the immersion starts as visitors are led into a cold, industrial room where they’re instructed to remove their shoes and socks. Then, inside a large room with a sand-covered floor, VR headsets transport them into an intense narrative experience based on real accounts of migration.
It’s yet to be seen if VR will be remembered as revolutionary or as another moment in the long history of technology’s attempt to expand the two-dimensional frame. This is particularly worth considering as we anticipate Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse, which promises to radically change our digital and physical lives. Time will tell, but in the hands of artists like Iñárritu, we can trust that it’s possible for these technologies to bring us closer to reality, not push us further away.
Details:
Friday through April 18 at the Food & Fiber Pavilion at Fair Park, 1233 Washington St., tickets and details on COVID-19 safety protocols at nashersculpturecenter.org
CORRECTED at 3:27 p.m. Jan. 14: An earlier version of this story had an incorrect address for the Food & Fiber Pavilion.
