‘VIRTUAL SOUL’: THE AESTHETICS OF THE DISEMBODIED BEING A Conceptual and Visual Analysis of an Artificial Influencer

Paola Palomino-Flores; Klaus Berckholtz-Benavides; Carlos Díaz-Hernández

doi:10.62161/revvisual.v18.5976

‘VIRTUAL SOUL’: THE AESTHETICS OF THE DISEMBODIED BEING A Conceptual and Visual Analysis of an Artificial Influencer

Título traducido de la contribución: “VIRTUAL SOUL”:LA ESTÉTICA DEL SER SIN CUERPOAnálisis conceptual y visual de una influencer artificial

Paola Palomino-Flores
, Klaus Berckholtz-Benavides
, Carlos Díaz-Hernández

Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas
Complutense University of Madrid

Producción científica: Contribución a una revista › Artículo › revisión exhaustiva

Resumen

In the post-digital era, categories such as body, identity, and presence undergo a reconfiguration. Focusing on the Instagram profile of Aitana López, an AI-created influencer, this study explores new forms of technologically mediated existence. Three dimensions are examined: existence as visibility, the body as an aesthetic interface without experience, and the image as an ontological presence. The findings reveal a tendency toward hyperreality and the aestheticization of the body, where the artificial takes precedence over the real. The image no longer merely represents; it acts, interacts, and generates value. Accordingly, rethinking the human requires acknowledging its embodied dimension.

Título traducido de la contribución	“VIRTUAL SOUL”:LA ESTÉTICA DEL SER SIN CUERPOAnálisis conceptual y visual de una influencer artificial
Idioma original	Inglés
Páginas (desde-hasta)	191-208
Número de páginas	18
Publicación	VISUAL Review. International Visual Culture Review / Revista Internacional de Cultura
Volumen	18
N.º	1
DOI	https://doi.org/10.62161/revvisual.v18.5976
Estado	Publicada - 30 ene. 2026

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10.62161/revvisual.v18.5976

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abstract = "In the post-digital era, categories such as body, identity, and presence undergo a reconfiguration. Focusing on the Instagram profile of Aitana L{\'o}pez, an AI-created influencer, this study explores new forms of technologically mediated existence. Three dimensions are examined: existence as visibility, the body as an aesthetic interface without experience, and the image as an ontological presence. The findings reveal a tendency toward hyperreality and the aestheticization of the body, where the artificial takes precedence over the real. The image no longer merely represents; it acts, interacts, and generates value. Accordingly, rethinking the human requires acknowledging its embodied dimension.",

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‘VIRTUAL SOUL’: THE AESTHETICS OF THE DISEMBODIED BEING A Conceptual and Visual Analysis of an Artificial Influencer. / Palomino-Flores, Paola; Berckholtz-Benavides, Klaus; Díaz-Hernández, Carlos.
En: VISUAL Review. International Visual Culture Review / Revista Internacional de Cultura, Vol. 18, N.º 1, 30.01.2026, p. 191-208.

Producción científica: Contribución a una revista › Artículo › revisión exhaustiva

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