Liminal Spaces: Empty, Uncanny, Familiar…

January 25th, 2024

Morning

You’re looking at a picture of a vaguely familiar place. This could be a park, a playground, maybe your high school, or an office building. You know you have been there before. But there’s something not quite right.

Photo courtesy of: 80lv.com. Photo Credit: ValenQpr.

Why is everything yellow? Why is the hallway flooded? Why is there a swimming pool here? Most importantly, however, where is everyone? This place is usually bustling with people. It’s bright, humming with activity, and full of life. But now it is dark, save for perhaps an illuminated exit sign, or some backup security lights. More alarmingly is the fact that there is absolutely no one here.

No one, that is, except you. Maybe the question you should ask yourself is: why are you here? Should you be here? Are you allowed?

Liminality Defined

What is being described, as you’ve no doubt already guessed, is a liminal space. You’ve seen them all over the internet by now. Some images are more familiar than others. You’ve likely discovered the dank, yellow aesthetic of the Back Rooms or the endless tile of vacant, indoor swimming pools.

Photo Courtesy of @SpaceLiminalBot. Photo Credit: unknown.

However, the concept of liminality reachers further back than The Back Rooms or Kane Pixels videos. Liminality hasn’t even always meant what we think of today. It’s been used in philosophy and mysticism for ages. We won’t be going that far back for this piece, however. It is an interesting read if one were so inclined to research it though.

We do need to define liminality and liminal spaces. In that regard, we can turn to James Sully. James was an English psychologist working in the 1880s. He was the first to use the term “liminal”, in English anyway. In 1884 he said:

“Among these problems [of consciousness] is that of the limit, threshold, or liminal intensity. A certain degree of stimulation is necessary to a sense-impression: this is known as the liminal intensity. [sic]”(Gray)

While James wasn’t speaking about liminal spaces as we are today, we can infer a great deal about the meaning of the word liminal from this quote. You see, liminal means “in-between”, as in the middle space between A and B.

As Theodora Blanchfield, AMFT puts it: “Liminal space is the uncertain transition between where you’ve been and where you’re going physically, emotionally, or metaphorically. To be in a liminal space means to be on the precipice of something new but not quite there yet. The word “liminal” comes from the Latin word ‘limen,’ which means threshold.” (Blanchfield)

She then goes on to describe how the pandemic was an example of a liminal space. The world was kind of waiting for it to be over. I think a more precise example of this would be the images of empty streets and canals. Everyone was inside and so the world just looked empty. It was frozen in time.

So having nailed down the concept, let's get to the more granular details of what comprises a prime liminal image or aesthetic.

First, the image must be completely devoid of people. No one can be in the picture; no crowds, no kids, not even really any animals or pets. The space must be completely vacant. This is the main thing that separates a liminal image from an analog horror image or just a regular horror picture. If you were to take a grainy image of a dark hallway with no one in it: that would be liminal. If you were to then place maybe a creepy child, or a clown in that picture, it would lose its liminality as the space is now occupied.

Would it be creepy as hell? Of course! But that’s what a horror image is. It’s just scary or creepy. Liminality is an altogether different feeling. While the elements would be largely the same: the grainy photo quality, the dim lighting, etc., it is the emptiness that sets liminality apart from horror. It’s what gives it that “in-between” feeling. There were people here, people should be here now, but there may be people here in the future sometime. However, you are there in between those two states of occupied and future occupation.

A second key element is the familiarity of the space. As in previous examples, it is a place you know. It is a place you think you know. It’s a school hallway. It’s an indoor pool. Maybe it’s a warehouse. These are commonly found areas in modern society. However, there is something always a little off in these images.

It’s not just necessarily the lack of people. It’s not even really the dim lighting. We’ve all seen a closed shop with just a few security lights on. We’ve been to a park at night. So what is it about a liminal image that creates that uncanniness?

Simply put, it’s the lack of context. A picture of an indoor pool, even an empty one, wouldn’t necessarily be liminal in, say, a resort catalog. Take that same pool, however, and just snap a picture of it, at night, and crop out a small section of it. Maybe frame out everything and put just the tiled stairway into the shallow end. Now post it on a random image board.

There’s no context. Where is this pool? Who does it belong to? Why is it empty? Then there’s the key factor: why are you there?

There is always that question lingering in the back of the mind. There’s always that sense of looking at something candid, or in a voyeuristic way. We’re seeing something that maybe we shouldn’t be seeing. We’re seeing this space as unintended.

A few more elements, briefly put are: the lighting, the time period, and uncanniness. We’ve mentioned the lighting and uncanniness. But the time period is also important. Usually, these images appear to be from the 1980s and 1990s. This may be to give the sense of it being forgotten or abandoned. It may also be to increase that sense of nostalgia. This is probably why a lot of images are inside old malls. Malls had their heyday in the 1980s and 1990s. Their decline occurred during the advent of online shopping. Malls exist today, of course, but they’re more like outside shopping areas or are in a state of slow decay. Either way, they don’t capture the malls that existed at the height of brick-and-mortar shopping.

All of these qualities add up to an image that just isn’t quite right. There’s just something a little off. That could be because our minds are adapted to context. We need that context to process what is happening. It has been conjectured also that the feeling we get is an evolutionary echo of having to be situationally aware and on the lookout for predators.

Regardless of the why, the fact remains that these images, to some extent, are unsettling.

Emotional Liminality

This leads us to the discussion of how these images make us feel.

The most common feeling that gets described when viewing these images is eerie. It’s this disturbing unease. This, in turn, causes a sense of emptiness. If anything, this is the emotion and feeling that best describes these liminal images. It may be the one required emotion provoked by looking at them.

Nostalgia is another common feeling associated with liminal spaces. This is largely caused by the eras in which the photos are either actually set or made to represent. Often these images are computer-generated or manipulated to enhance the aesthetic desired. As has been mentioned, the most common periods are the 1980s and 1990s.

Most of the people who are into liminal spaces or are generating the images were kids during this time frame. Looking at the mauves, mint greens, and brown wood paneling that are often present in the images conjures childhood memories. Some images of closed Blockbusters and old Taco Bell shops directly call back to earlier times that I spent as a teen.

Perhaps it’s this nostalgia that contributes to the sense of fascination that often comes with liminality as we know it today. There is something so uncannily familiar about these places. They are also empty and we have a back-stage view of them almost. It begs to be explored.

If you’re the adventurous or introverted type, this may also bring a sense of comfort. Let’s be honest, haven’t we all daydreamed about waking up as the only human on Earth? Haven’t we all fantasized about what we would do? There are times when being the only living thing in a space isn’t eerie or scary. Sometimes it’s just what we need.

The Music of Liminality

Macintosh Plus: “Floral Shoppe” album cover. Photo credit: Ramona Xavier.

While we are exploring these uncanny valleys and empty spaces, what would the soundtrack be?

In my opinion, the perfect soundtrack to liminal spaces would be Vaporwave. However, can we truly call Vaporwave liminal? Maybe not, but the way it mixes bits of 80s muzak and commercial announcements brings up memories of the shopping malls and elevators that often comprise liminal spaces.

The addition of vocal tracks does take away some of the uncanniness, sure. However, it makes up for it with overwhelming nostalgia. It also takes the clips and samples out of context and slams them together, sometimes jarringly. This is a key aesthetic to liminality.

In my mind, this makes it the perfect companion to exploring these empty hallways and warehouses.

Exploring the Spaces

This would be a good time to look at the best examples of the spaces themselves.

Gameplay Capture from “2:22 AM” by Umbrella Isle. Photo Credit: Umbrella Isle

One example is the game “2:22 am”. I attempted to download and play it, but it’s not compatible with my version of MacOS. I have seen playthroughs and video clips and I can say, it absolutely captures the aesthetic and emotional response.

It has a dreamy feel to it. You are doing seemingly random tasks and exploring bizarre spaces. In some ways “game” doesn’t feel like the right word to use. It’s very difficult to describe and I will for sure be finding some way to play it.

However, until then, it is very much recommended to at least watch a let’s play. If you do play it, it is recommended (even by the devs) to play it at night, by yourself, which is appropriate.

The mono-yellow horror that is The Back Rooms. Photo Credit: **Nicolás Valencia**

A second example, and arguably the most famous, would be the Back Rooms. It was made popular by the superb YouTube series on Kane Pixel’s channel. The CGI landscape is extremely well rendered to the point where it’s hard to tell honestly.

The mono-yellow color pallet is so well utilized that you can almost smell the ever-damp and dank carpet. You can literally hear the buzz of the fluorescent lights. These elements deliver the uncanny, oddly familiar, and eerie feeling perfectly.

My only criticism, which isn’t a criticism necessarily, is the addition of monsters and other people. However, this is not Kane’s “fault” (if that’s even the correct word). In the earliest mentions of the Back Rooms, it was just a simple image of a mono-yellow, empty office corridor. It simply warns us that if we “no-clip” (that is to pass through the normal boundaries of space accidentally) out of reality then we could end up here.

“Here” is a seemingly never-ending office space. It is filled with yellow wallpaper, yellow carpeting, yellow ceilings, and jarring fluorescent lighting. According to the story, the yellow carpeting is always damp and smells musty.

This is a setting a lot of people have been in in their day-to-day lives. The mildewed carpet by the water cooler, the eye-straining lights, and the ugly corporate colorways and interior design are very familiar.

Image of Cable Monster from Kane Pixel’s Back Rooms series. Photo Credit: Kane Pixels.

However, and I must mention this, the addition of the hazmat-suited people and monsters in Kane’s excellent series and later additions to the original story do take away from the liminality. To me, the question is: what’s scarier or more eerie? Is it the complete emptiness and lack of context one is suddenly thrust into, knowing this is your life now and you can’t escape it, or is it that a monster is hunting you?

Both are extreme fears, to be sure, but in my opinion, starving to death as you wander down similar-looking hallways forever is the worst option.

Final Thoughts

There are other examples one can explore. There are abandoned virtual chatrooms and dead videogame servers where one can wander around and not contact another soul.

There are the quiet, midnight subway tunnels devoid of activity. Even the occasional neighborhood playground at night with the mist clinging to the grass can evoke similar feelings of unease.

All of this begs that same, old question: why are we here? Why are we drawn to these places if it brings up such feelings of unease?

To me, liminality is a favorite way to waste time. I love watching Kane’s videos. I love scrolling through the liminal subreddits. The empty playgrounds, the yellow hallways, and the empty warehouses full of nothing offer me a sense of escape. Maybe that’s my social anxiety talking, but I genuinely love it. I also love being terrified though. I’m not alone in that sentiment, though.

But again, why? Why are we here in these spaces we clearly shouldn’t be. That is not how they are intended to be observed.

Is that it? Are we all just secret voyeurs? Do we all just want to see behind the scenes? That’s part of it. Another part of it is the fascination that comes from the unexpected. We see these places “after hours” as it were, or they are unfinished. They are in-between. We are forever lost in this state of what comes after what was and before what will be: potentiality. We enjoy that we are alone here on some level. We love the unease, the surreality, the uncanniness of it all.

And isn’t that the whole point of the thing?

Sources:

Gray, Dave. "The Roots of Liminal Thinking." Medium, 12 Mar. 2016, medium.com/@davegray/the-roots-of-liminal-thinking-3be4bea6fd63#:~:text=The%20concept%20of%20liminality%20as,Victor%20Turner%2C%20in%20the%201960s. Accessed 25 Jan. 2024.

Blanchfield, Theodora AMFT. "The Psychology Behind Liminal Space." Verywell Mind, 10 May 2023, www.verywellmind.com/the-impact-of-liminal-space-on-your-mental-health-5204371#:~:text=Liminal%20space%20is%20the%20uncertain,limen%2C%E2%80%9D%20which%20means%20threshold. Accessed 25 Jan. 2024.

Kane Pixels Back Rooms Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4dGpz6cnHo&list=PLVAh-MgDVqvDUEq6qDXqORBioE4Yhol_z

Solar Sands’ Video Essay on Liminality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N63pQGhvK4M&t=776s

Neumann, Kimberly D. "Liminal Space: What Is It and How Does It Affect Your Mental Health?" Forbes Health, 6 Sept. 2022, www.forbes.com/health/mind/what-is-liminal-space/. Accessed 25 Jan. 2024.