The digital realm is fragile; it hovers like a delicate film over the stubborn, raw physicality of our material existence. This fact is easy to overlook in a world where smartphones have seamlessly integrated into nearly every part of our lives and an ever-expanding range of digital services seems perfectly tuned to anticipate and cater to each of our needs. But digital images, files, and interactions are reliant on technology and infrastructure that can easily fail, degrade, or disappear with a power outage, a server shutdown, or a corrupted file. Unlike physical objects that we can feel or even restore over time, digital content exists only as long as its supporting systems are intact and up to date. The material world reasserts its undeniable presence when the digital falters, but it’s usually not long before we’ve lost touch again, swept back up by the pull of a screen. We lose the grounding force of material reality, and we’re disembodied once more.
In this essay, which appears in Comment Magazine, I examine how the experience of seeing Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel differs from their digital simulation in the context of immersive masterworks exhibitions.
Michelangelo
The Last Judgment
1536-41
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