The Comfort of the Infinite

The Comfort of the Infinite Comparative commentary by Buki Fatona Cite Share Show Bible Passage Isaiah 40 wrestles with how the infinite being of God is known by human beings despite humanity’s finitude. On the one hand, perceiving the boundless being of God is beyond human cognitive abilities and, on the other hand, humans can ‘see’ God (vv.5, 10, 15, 26). To resolve the epistemic paradox of how the infinite being of God can be perceived despite our finitude, the author of Isaiah 40 draws an analogy, albeit an asymmetric one, between Creator and creation. As the chapter unfolds, God is revealed in the unfurling of creation. Like the infinite being of God, creation itself exceeds everyday experience, even though we are embedded within it. The idea that creation itself exceeds the bounds of our minds raises a further problem: how does one depict that which exceeds even worldly experience? This is the question facing the author of Isaiah 40 and all three artists whose works are featured in this exhibition. The problem of how one conveys the infinite is resolved by the author of Isaiah 40, and the artists in this exhibition, by the use of asymmetric analogy. I use ‘asymmetry’ in the mathematical, ‘less than’ sense. For example, an asymmetric relation holds between 1 and 2, wherein 1 is less than 2, and 2 is necessarily greater than 1. In Isaiah 40, there is an asymmetric analogy between creation and Creator. Although we cannot see God, we see God’s glory in creation. The finite thus ‘depicts’ the infinite. The three works of art in this exhibition have been chosen because they draw on a comparable asymmetric relation between the finite and the infinite. Where Alma Thomas’s depiction in Earth Sermon is about space; Agnes Martin’s The Moment is about time; and M.C. Escher’s Circle Limit III concerns both space and time. In Thomas’s Earth Sermon shimmering colours represent the expanse of creation as nature’s homily. Creation is a homily because it tells us about its Creator. Thus, the finite tells us about the infinite. In Thomas’s Earth Sermon the telling occurs through the colours and shapes on the canvas’s expanse spread out in space. Although the painting is bordered by black lines, its vivid colours are interspersed with white flecks which evoke light emanating from an infinite depth. In Martin’s The Moment, the telling occurs in the repetitive lines in the shape of an egg. Its title evokes a locus of time. From this locus of time, we step into the infinite expansiveness of eternity. Escher’s Circle Limit III encircles both space and time: the dynamic movement of the fish occurs in both. Its ‘fish shoot up from infinitely far away’ (Coxeter 1979: 20) suggesting both temporal event and, in their interlocking tessellated forms, a repeating spatial pattern that could be extended without end. Both in space and in time the fish point towards infinity. In Isaiah 40, as with these three artworks, the finitude of creation tells of the infiniteness of God’s being. This is how God is ‘seen’ in creation. The seeing of God in creation is comforting. Despite God’s greatness or because of it, God is infinitely tender to God’s people. In verse 11, God feeds God’s flock like a shepherd, tenderly embracing the lambs, and gently leads the mother sheep. Isaiah 40, which begins with God speaking words of comfort to God’s people, ends with the encouragement that from God’s infinite being, the powerless who wait on God will be strengthened. Thus, when we see the infinite being of God in the finitude of creation, finite humans though we are; we are nonetheless comforted, and we are strengthened. References Coxeter, H.S.M. 1979. ‘The Non-Euclidean Symmetry of Escher’s Picture “Circle Limit III”’, Leonardo 12: 19–25