Liminal Space

For our next exhibition at K.L.8, we are looking for art that deals with the theme of “liminal space”, in a visual or a conceptual sense.

Walking into a liminal space is a recognisable feeling. Abandoned train stations or office corridors, where the light suddenly takes on a new unsettling quality, can strike people as ‘liminal’. An entire internet aesthetic has grown around people’s need to share images and descriptions of spaces that made them feel uncomfortable in a particular way, that appeared to exist outside of fixed reality. In part, a liminal space is also a mental space everyone carries within. All of life’s pivotal changes—puberty, falling in love, moving between apartments, spiritual growth, artistic inspiration—require some form of liminality, and many mystical traditions depend on some notion of a liminal space; in the undefined wilderness the divine, or the Other, could reveal itself to humans.

Liminal spaces have always been present in human consciousness, across history and across cultures; from weddings and coming-of-age rituals to religious praxis, performance art and Reddit threads. The Latin word limen means ‘the threshold’, and the liminal exists ‘between and betwixt the positions assigned and arrayed by law, custom, convention, and ceremonial.’ It is an animated emptiness, a place between two worlds or two realities; between different stages in life, that induces fear and profound confusion, but at the same time feels replete with new possibilities, and allows for reflection.

Artists as a breed tend to have a closer understanding of liminality than most people. Perhaps our way of living and working always keeps us one step removed from complete assimilation into conventional society. Perhaps because artists need to disappear into the undefined every time they start a new project; every new work of art is a personal transformation that the artist has to see through from beginning to end on their own.

We are looking for (visual) artists who try to evoke this liminal dimension of transition and ambiguity, and who want to bring it into our exhibition space.

To participate in our open call, you can fill out our form via the following link: https://forms.gle/wdo4zrepMNxvoPkB6

Alongside general information, we ask for a proposal of max. 5 works or 2 series, a portfolio, an artist statement of max. 1 A4 and an artistic cv of max. 1 A4. All documents are to be submitted in PDF-format.

For any further questions, you can reach us at kl8exhibitions@gmail.com.

DEADLINE: 29 August 2023

Exhibition date: Late October - Early November 2023