The iconoclasm of throw-away culture
Museums have long oversold digital; veneration of disposability is partly fueling an aggressive approach to public sculptures.
The first and only time I donned a virtual-reality headset was at last January’s press preview of the Sackler Gallery exhibit “Age Old Cities: A Virtual Journey from Palmyra to Mosul.” I wandered through the Smithsonian show, comprised solely of digital projections though relevant artifacts resided on site in other galleries, and was the first journalis…