this post was submitted on 19 May 2026
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LiminalSpace
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Liminal spaces are the subject of an Internet aesthetic portraying empty or abandoned places that appear eerie, forlorn, and often surreal. Liminal spaces are commonly places of transition (pertaining to the concept of liminality) or of nostalgic appeal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liminal_space_(aesthetic)
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I suppose this is AI generated based on the odd lighting patterns that don't make much sense... Why is blue light from the TV showing up on the wall behind the TV? Why do the shadows look like there is a light source coming from the ceiling but the ceiling light is off? The shadows make no sense.
But more importantly, the tip-off is that TV's from that era pre-date the No Signal from digital broadcasting which did not roll out until 2008. By 2008, thin flatscreens were common, this TV is from the 1990s or bare minimum turn of the century around the early 2000's. It could have potentially had one of those government-subsidized digital broadcast adapters for those old TVs but it's not clear that there is one in this picture.
The TV should be filled with static.
What's funny to me (and I know it's just meant to illustrate, not be perfect) is that the static in your example immediately jumps out to me as somehow not quite right too, just like the elements you pointed out in the AI slop image. Like I've spent so much time in my youth in the presence of the cosmic microwave background as seen through CRTs that I can sense its randomness and noise characteristics. I can't usually say why fake TV static looks wrong, but it always jumps out as wrong almost immediately. I've seen the same issue in lots of newer movies and shows set in the era of analog television, always immediately pulls me out of the story.
Absolutely, I just grabbed the first animated GIF I could find, but I actually felt the same way. There's something just off about all of them. It feels like it's impossible to recreate without one of those old TVs. I wonder if people fail to properly recreate the sound of static as well.