OTM #20: Empty Halls

I’ve been taking lots of photographs of empty hallways lately. With the incoming cold of winter and late night study days, an empty hall is all I can think of. A sense of liminality, a familiarity of a class building but sharp feeling of emptiness accompanying it. I feel like I’m in a liminal state in life, in search of a proper career in college, in the final moments of a difficult semester. I’m in a long, empty hallway, lit coldly and seemingly never-ending. I could keep walking, or I could stand still. I’m really fascinated by this idea of liminality; there’s this horror concept online called The Backrooms that has taken people by storm lately. It’s similar to my paintings of empty hallways – the idea of the Backrooms is a never-ending, familiar yet unfamiliar space. It’s lit with a yellowish light, there are no windows, you become lost within an instant. It’s scary to so many, simply because it draws upon our notions of architectural familiarity. Something as simple as a hallway can become scary, unknown, and we can be forced to reflect on our humanity when seemingly nobody else is present. Maybe that’s why I’m so captivated by the empty halls. I feel like I’ve been needing to do a lot of self-reflection, and there’s a scary comfort in exploring spaces like this. Hope you are all navigating finals okay, and have a great week!