Images of angels speak of purity, divinity, and transcendence. Artist Robert Lewis’ Untitled #37 (“Angels”) a digital collage, challenges this traditional perception of angels by depicting two quasi-anthropomorphic, ephemeral images that resemble angels but are not truly angelic in nature. I will explore the philosophical implications of this digital collage and what it reveals about our understanding of the divine, the ephemeral, and the human condition.
Lewis’ collages often use some images created with carefully crafted text prompts in a variety of AI applications. He makes it practice to never use AI as a standalone version of himself. That is, all images used have been manipulated before collecting them into a single work of art.
The first thing to note about this digital collage is the ambiguity of the images. The quasi-anthropomorphic figures resemble angels, but their features are not entirely clear. They appear to be ephemeral, transient images that hover between the material and the immaterial. This ambiguity raises important questions about the nature of the divine and our attempts to understand it. If the angels we imagine are not truly angelic, then what does that say about our conception of the divine? Are our ideas of purity and transcendence merely projections of our own desires and fears?
Moreover, the digital collage challenges our understanding of the human condition. The quasi-anthropomorphic figures appear to be in a state of flux, caught between being and non-being. This transience invites us to reflect on the impermanence of our own existence and the fragility of our own being. It reminds us that we, too, are ephemeral beings, caught in the flux of time and space and that our attempts to grasp the divine are ultimately futile.
At the same time, the digital collage also suggests a sense of hope and possibility. The quasi-anthropomorphic figures are not entirely angelic, but they are still angelic in nature. They embody a sense of otherness and transcendence that reminds us of the possibility of something greater than ourselves. They invite us to imagine a world beyond our own limitations, where the boundaries between the material and immaterial, the finite and infinite, are blurred.
Untitled #37 (“Angels”), a digital collage of two quasi-anthropomorphic, ephemeral images that resemble angels challenges our traditional understanding of the divine, the ephemeral, and the human condition. It reminds us of the limitations of our own understanding and invites us to reflect on the transience of our own existence. At the same time, it also suggests the possibility of something greater than ourselves, a world beyond our own limitations and constraints. Ultimately, the work invites us to imagine a new kind of spirituality, a “not-spirituality”, that is both grounded in the material world and open to the infinite possibilities of there being no origin.
—Amorette Ilaria