Högskolan i Skövde

This chapter introduces elements of “liminal design,” deuned across his- torical and contemporary works as design that provides the “participant,” “passer-by,” or “pilgrim” with the potential of transformational experi- ence via the liminal or betwixt/between. Drawing connections between theory, history, and practice in mixed realities and liminality, we are pur- suing an emergent typology of liminal design abstracted from analysis of a trans-historical group of works that illuminates aspects of the ancient and medieval heritage of contemporary mixed reality (MR) technologies. This chapter is part of a larger ongoing project comparing examples of liminal design from the Middle Ages and contemporary mixed reality, which we begin here with three examples selected for the ways they res- onate across many characteristics with the concept of the border. The works to be discussed in this text include Qal’at Sim’an, the martyrium and cult site of Saint Simeon the Stylite, and associated objects (5th cen- tury, Syria); Border Memorial: Frontera de los Muertos (2012, John Craig Freeman); and Abraham Lincoln: War Veterans Project (2012, Krzysztof Wodiczko).