Urbex. On urban space and its liminality

Ruins inhabit an ambiguous space, balancing between utopia and dystopia, interacting with overlapping temporalities: the linear decay of materiality, societal shifts, ephemeral interpretations, and unpredictable uses. They reflect a tension between heritage and consumerism, as seen in Rome, where ruins evolve from historical remnants to commodified icons, detached from their fragile temporality. Yet, liminal spaces resist categorization, embodying a dynamic richness and challenging the reductive binaries of ruin and rubble. These unclassified remnants, suspended in transformation, invite reinterpretation through visual culture, countering "ruin porn" with a critical lens that emphasizes the interplay of abandonment and human engagement. Photography emerges as a medium to explore ruins' duality—documentary and sublime—connecting memory, aesthetics, and the Anthropocene's fragmented narrative. This approach fosters a democratic reappropriation of spaces, blending documentation with poetic reflection, and enabling slow contemplation. Through UrbEx practices, ruins transcend decay, becoming symbols of resilience and evolving cultural identities.