Transition space
Introduction
Liminal spaces are the subject of an Internet aesthetic that portrays empty or abandoned places that appear eerie, desolate, and often surreal. Pertaining to the concept of liminality, liminal spaces can be places of transition, such as hallways or rest areas, but also places with a nostalgic appeal, such as playgrounds and empty houses. In general, images of liminal space represent abnormally empty and dreamlike places.
Research in the Journal of Environmental Psychology has indicated that liminal spaces can appear eerie or strange because they fall into an uncanny valley of architecture and physical places.[1] An article in Pulse: the Journal of Science and Culture has attributed this unease to familiar places that lack their commonly observed context.[2].
The aesthetic gained popularity in 2019 after a post on 4chan showing a liminal space called The Backrooms went viral. Images of the liminal space have since been posted across the internet, including on Reddit, Twitter, and TikTok.
Characteristics
Broadly speaking, a liminal space is used to describe a place or state of change or transition; this can be physical (e.g., a door) or psychological (e.g., the period of adolescence).[3] Images of liminal space often represent this sense of "in-betweenness," capturing places of transition (such as stairs, paths, hallways, apartments, or hotels) eerily devoid of people.[4] Aesthetics can convey moods of unease, surrealism, nostalgia, or sadness, and provoke responses of both comfort and unease.[5].
Research by Alexander Diel and Michael Lewis from the Journal of Environmental Psychology has attributed the unsettling nature of liminal spaces to the uncanny valley phenomenon. The term, which is generally applied to humanoids whose inexact resemblance to humans provokes feelings of unease, may explain similar responses to liminal images. In this case, physical places that seem familiar but subtly deviate from reality create the feeling of unease typical of liminal spaces.[1].
Peter Heft of Pulse: the Journal of Science and Culture further explores this sense of unease. Drawing on the works of Mark Fisher (Mark Fisher (Theoretical)), Heft explains that such unease can be felt when an individual sees a situation in a different context than they expect. For example, a school, which is expected to be a busy amalgamation of teachers and students, becomes unsettling when it is depicted as abnormally empty. Fisher considered this "failure of presence" to be one of the hallmarks of the aesthetic experience of the uncanny.[2].