By Alisa Tang Email

Good morning, DMV. It’s Tuesday, Nov. 19.

Six years ago, I went to see “Carne y Arena,” a virtual-reality installation by Mexican filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, at a former church in northeast D.C. It was mind-blowing, and to this day, I can’t stop thinking about it.

I walked into a large dark room, floor covered in sand. I put on VR goggles and headphones, and was transported to the desert. I was walking at night with other migrants in the border area. Then a U.S. Border Patrol helicopter buzzed us, and we were suddenly surrounded on the ground by armed agents. I crouched down, my hands extended out to protect myself.

It was terrifying and painfully sad. Yet I want more experiential, immersive art like this, that I might see what others see, feel what others feel.