CLUSTERS OF HOLES OR CIRCLES? Investigating social and aesthetic phenomena online – from disgust to desire
Agnieszka Cieszanowska
Clusters of holes or circles? Investigating social and aesthetic phenomena online – from disgust to desire
Agnieszka Cieszanowska Thesis Design Academy Eindhoven MA Social Design 2022 Thesis tutor: Nadine Botha Head of department: Marina Otero
TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract Introduction 1. (Non)Medical research, subjects and objects 2. Trypophobia and trypomania: of disgust and desire 3. Online phenomena, pop culture and design Summary Bibliography Images Appendix
content warning: holes; clusters of holes, circles; insects; skin; skin infections; human diseases; frogs; animals eggs Since trypophobic images, that are part of research of the thesis, may be considered triggering, only miniatures are placed within the text, and larger images are located after conclusion, and can be skipped by the reader.
ABSTRACT In the early 21st century miscellaneous online phenomena have flourished. The thesis examines one of them, known as the aversion toward clusters of holes or circles or irregular patterns – trypophobia. It investigates it in the context of already existing scientific and medical research, while drawing on a broader cultural context. It explores the aesthetic and moral evaluation of trypophobic images, together with their spread on the Internet. The thesis distinguishes trypophobia – fear and disgust in relation to these images - and trypomania – a fascination with them. It shows their intertwining, and therefore ambiguity of the phenomena. Using the idea of “attractive disgust”, which is identified as a version of “oddly satisfying” images, the thesis demonstrates the Internet as an ideal environment for aesthetically unconventional trends to thrive.
Keywords: aesthetic judgment, holes, Internet culture, social media, trypomania, trypophobia, visual perception
INTRODUCTION Trypophobia is a condition under which a person experiences an aversion or fear towards the assemblage of holes and/or circles (sometimes also irregular patterns). The term is believed to have been created on the online forum named “A Phobia of Holes” in 20051 and it was only after about 10 years that it began to be noticed in the scientific community2. Since then, there has been a limited number of studies examining the phenomenon of trypophobia. Nevertheless, several published studies3 attempted not only to investigate peoples’ responses to specific patterns but also tried to
1. Lanese Nicoletta, What Is Trypophobia?, (Live Science, 2019) 2. J. C Martínez-Aguayo, R. C. Lanfranco, M. Arancibia, E. Sepúlveda, E. Madrid, Trypophobia What Do We Know So Far A Case Report and Comprehensive Review of the Literature, (Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2018) 3. E.g: Cole GG, Wilkins AJ. Fear of holes. (Psychol Sci, 1980); Chaya K, Xue Y, Uto Y, Yao Q, Yamada Y. Fear of eyes: triadic relation among social anxiety, trypophobia, and discomfort for eye cluster. PeerJ, 2016; Imaizumi S, Furuno M, Hibino H, Koyama S. Trypophobia is predicted by disgust sensitivity, empathic traits, and visual discomfort. (Springerplus, 2016); Can W, Zhuoran Z, Zheng J. Is trypophobia a phobia? (Psychol Rep, 2017); Kupfer TR, Le ATD. Disgusting clusters: trypophobia as an overgeneralised disease avoidance response. (Cogn Emot, 2017); Sasaki K, Yamada Y, Kuroki D, Miura K. Trypophobic discomfort is spatial- frequency dependent. (Adv Cogn Psychol, 2017); Yamada Y, Sasaki K. Involuntary protection against dermatosis: a preliminary observation on trypophobia. (BMC Res Notes, 2017)
determine the origin as well as stimuli that cause a negative sensation. Despite the name, trypophobia is discussed not to be a phobia, but another mental health condition (or is not considered to be a medical condition at all). Independent of or parallel to trypophobia, a second phenomenon is occurring. That is curiosity and interest towards these patterns, with manifest themselves, again, on the Internet (as well as in areas of contemporary culture). For the purpose of this work, it will be referred to as “trypomania”. The thesis argues that the trypomanic trend can be recognised as part of – while talking about online discourse – the genre of “oddly satisfying”4 patterns - or broader “attractively disgusting” images. Humans’ emotional reactions towards these satisfying images have not been investigated in-depth, yet some researchers suggest5– a genes-coded preference for repetitions and patterns6, which might explain the phenomenon. Interestingly, despite images with clusters of holes and circles frequently occurring in the natural world the majority of trypophobic/trypomanic images or objects are human-made creations or reproductions. Most of them flourished on the Internet, in pop and design culture and in architecture. 4. dissscusion on the “oddly satisfying” aesthetic category can be find e.g. in: Schonig Jordan, “Liking” as creating: On aesthetic category memes (New Media & Society, 2022); Werning Stefan, Remediating Tactility (Interin, 2022) 5, 6. J. C Martínez-Aguayo, R. C. Lanfranco, M. Arancibia, E. Sepúlveda, E. Madrid, Trypophobia What Do We Know So Far A Case Report and Comprehensive Review of the Literature, (Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2018)
The images are shared all over social media (from private Facebook groups to viral TikTok videos), in horror movies (where the antagonists are likely to have trypophobic characteristics) and with clickbait articles zooming in on Kardashian’s struggles of living with this phobia – as well as – letting the readers quiz themselves to find out if they have it too. On the other hand, in design and architecture – two significant trends share very dense, patterned, trypophobic characteristic: parametrisation – where shapes of objects are defined by algorithms – and biomimicry – emulation of nature – with results in projects of varied sizes and scales: from mass-produced household objects to building.
For the purpose of the thesis, miscellaneous qualitative research was conducted. Starting with image and object research through to two surveys. Image and object research was based on firsthand observation and collection from trypophobic groups, such as Facebook support groups and trypomanic online groups that are sharing trypophobic images, like Reddit. Information was also collected through other typical channels used while engaging on the Internet, like Google Images search results and online articles on the subject. Furthermore, tools to measure Internet activity were applied – Google trends results and answers from the conducted surveys. 173 participants recruited from trypophobic/trypomanic online groups and personal social media networks responded to questions regarding the topic and, if they chose to, evaluated trypo-
phobic images as well. The result of the research, except for findings and conclusions included in the text, is a set of images, patterns desalted from them and their classification. The thesis explores the phenomena of trypophobia from several perspectives. The first chapter reviews major scientific and medical publications on trypophobia7 and medical conditions related, such as phobia, obsession, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It begins with synthesising the profile of the trypophobic subject and presents three categories of hypotheses seeking to explain the phenomenon – toxicity, social conditions, and visual processing. Then, the thesis puts them in the context of the theory of disgust based on three different derivatives: core, animal reminder, and contamination disgust introduced by Rozin and Fallon8. At the end of the chapter, the thesis seeks to open the discussion to other hypotheses – the first one – derived from the major trypophobic characteristic – placing holes (in the context of the unknown and emptiness) as the main factor behind then phenomenon, the second – contextualized by disgust theory – based on fear of toxicity in the perspective of spoiled food.
7. E.g: Trypophobia: ; What Do We Know So Far? A Case Report and Comprehensive Review of the Literature; Rasch analysis of the Trypophobia; Examining the visual effect of trypophobic repetitive pattern in contemporary urban environments, Bahrain as a case for middle east countries, Journal of architecture and urbanism, 2020; Assessment of trypophobia and an analysis of its visual precipitation; Trypophobia is predicted by disgust sensitivity, empathic traits, and visual discomfort 8. Rozin, P., & Fallon, A perspective on disgust (Psychological Review, 1987)
The second chapter focuses on body, emotions, and aesthetic judgments. It begins by exploring the relationship between object, body and skin and the resulting concepts of proximity, “stickiness”, and contagiousness. It examines humans’ aesthetic judgments and relationships between emotions and aesthetic evaluations. It also lists and discusses core characteristics of the phenomena: body and skin - strongly associated with disgust, manifested for example in body horror and, in the case of trypophobia, most often as skin malformations; holes and their nothingness - often multiplied features forming “holes in holes in holes” that indicate the enigmatic nature of the objects’ content; irregularity and complexity – combination, often present in the images, that from the evolutionary perspective may be the factor making trypophobia so ambivalent. It discusses these dualities of emotions and aesthetic evaluation in the context of the phenomenon of “attractive disgust”. Conclusions on disgust and aesthetic are informed by the work of Sianne Ngai9; Sarah Ahmed10; Carolyn Korsmeyer11 and Paul Rozin12. The 3rd chapter deals with the particular social environment in which this phenomenon has flourished, the Internet and its pop culture, and explores emerging trypophobic design. The thesis identifies two large and active online communities in which trypophobia exists - support groups (where individuals share experiences and support) and viral groups (where trypophobic images are shared). It shows their coexistence due to the “attractive disgust” of trypophobic images.
9. Sianne Ngai, Our aesthetic categories: zany, cute, interesting (Harvard University Press, 2015); Sianne Ngai, Ugly feelings, (Harvard University Press, 2007) 10. Sarah Ahmed, The Cultural Politics of Emotion (Edinburgh University Press, 2013) 11. Carolyn Korsmeyer, Savoring disgust: the foul and the fair in aesthetics (Oxford University Press, 2011) 12. P. Rozin, A. Fallon, The psychological categorization of foods and nonfoods (Appetite, 1980)
The thesis starts a discussion on the occurrence of “trypomania” – interests in trypophobic images and emphasises the key role of complex ambivalence of the phenomenon – not only the experience of fear or disgust – previously addressed only as “trypophobia”. Through the close investigation of the essential characteristics of trypophobia (i.e. holes and nothingness and contagiousness), the paper, besides reviewing the existing literature on the subject, highlighting not sufficiently researched hypothesis which may explain it – that is, the one lined with holes and nothingness, the other with disgust towards decaying food. The thesis argues that trypophobia/trypomania has become popular due to the ambivalence of emotions evoked and is part of a wider Internet trend that can be described as “attractive disgust”. As a significant part of the online space that is based on two seemingly contradictory values – it creates a place of shared positive aesthetic assessments as well as one that can be expected to evoke intense negative emotions, often in a way that contests our moral and aesthetical judgements. Trypophobia, thanks to the anonymity and invisibility that humans feel on the Internet, allows for a deeper exploration of tabooed topics (disgusting objects, negative emotions), and therefore can explain the viral transitions of these ambiguous patterns evoking both disgust and fascination.
1. (NON)MEDICAL RESEARCH, SUBJECTS AND OBJECTS Negative reactions related to trypophobic images and objects are experienced by approximately 15% of the human population13. However, most of these people do not face difficulties due to it in everyday life, and therefore cannot be diagnosed with trypophobia as a mental health condition. It can be assumed that of this proportion, only a small fraction may be medically classified as having trypophobia, encountering difficulties due to it in daily functioning. However, there is no estimate of this population. Even when these problems in daily-life functioning occur, they can be challenging to recognize. Moreover, there is no consensus on a single clinical diagnosis and it is often linked to other disorders, which is quite common for psychiatric disorders, but in addition, there are several different understandings of the phenomena in the medical community14. The most popular one implies that trypophobia is a specific phobia or an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)15 and other studies show the links with social anxiety16. 13. F. Alkhalifa, A. Wilkins, N. Almurbati, J. Pinelo, Examining the visual effect of trypophobic repetitive pattern in contemporary urban environments, Bahrain as a case for Middle East countries (Journal of architecture and urbanism, 2020) 14. J. C Martínez-Aguayo, R. C. Lanfranco, M. Arancibia, E. Sepúlveda, E. Madrid, Trypophobia What Do We Know So Far A Case Report and Comprehensive Review of the Literature (Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2018) 15. Vlok-Barnard M, Stein DJ. Trypophobia: an investigation of clinical features (Rev Bras Psiquiatr, 2017) 16. Chaya K, Xue Y, Uto Y, Yao Q, Yamada Y. Fear of eyes: triadic relation among social anxiety, trypophobia, and discomfort for eye cluster. (PeerJ, 2016)
Reactions during exposure to a trigger can include both objective physical variables (shortage of breath, electrodermal changes, vomiting) as well as subjective ones (fear and/or disgust, skin crawling, feeling of nervousness)17. At this level, the phenomenon is difficult to compare to other phobias. The main difference lies in the individuals’ experience – of disgust rather than fear towards stimuli – this difference could indicate OCD rather than a phobia. The name – “trypophobia” only complicates matters. Firstly, it implies that the phenomenon is a phobia. And secondly, trŷpa meaning a hole, it ignores other characteristics: circles or irregularity of patterns. Furthermore, the images that are considered to fall into this category are often in other shapes (from oval to hexagonal). Patterns do not necessarily have to be concave either - some studies18 suggest protruding areas have the same effect. Interestingly, the researchers have not clarified so far what exact patterns are responsible for this condition – the complexity, density, and scale of the images might be crucial. Again, this does not apply to round shapes only – similar reactions occur with contoured imagery – most commonly in the case of stripes19.
SUBJECTS It is worth starting with examining the subjects who experience it. As previously mentioned, around 15%20 of the population may experience negative emotions when exposed to trypophobic images but only a small fraction may be medically classified as having trypophobia, meaning experiencing difficulties in daily functioning. Due to the lack of a formal classification of trypophobic people, re17. Mayor Eric, Meyer Andrea, Miani Alessandro, Lieb Roselind, An exploration of the nomological network of Trypophobia (PLoS One, 2021) 18 - 21 F. Alkhalifa, A. Wilkins, N. Almurbati, J. Pinelo, Examining the visual effect of trypophobic repetitive pattern in contemporary urban environments, Bahrain as a case for middle east countries (Journal of architecture and urbanism, 2020)
searched groups can be remarkably diverse - from people experiencing minor discomfort when exposed to patterns, to those having difficulties in functioning in everyday life. Interestingly, in the group of trypophobic people (this refers both to people with diagnosed trypophobia or experiencing problems in everyday functioning and people reacting negatively to trypophobic images), it is inconsistent whether there is a gender difference in the experience of trypophobia21, whereas in the case of specific/multiple phobias, women claim to be predominated group22. According to the study ’Trypophobia: an investigation of clinical features’, “trypophobia is chronic and persistent, with a mean age of onset in the teenage years”23 and was linked to a family history of the medical condition24. At the same time, it is suggested that the phenomenon is linked to urban life and urbanisation, or other generational changes (resulting from an enlarged younger urban population juxtaposed with an older rural population25). In comparative research in ethnic minority regions of China26, more people from urban environments experience stronger negative effects through trypophobic images which researchers are linking with urbanization or age-related properties. In the study ‘Trypophobia: an investigation of clinical features,’ 19% of respondents were diagnosed with (other) specific phobia, almost as many had major depression and/or generalized anxiety disorder but only 2% had OCD27. This meta-research has shown that people with specific phobia exhibit greater neuroticism and anxiety sensitivity, trait anxiety, disgust propensity, and disgust sensitivity which might be related to trypophobia as well28. In relation to disgust sensitivity, core disgust seems particularly relevant, 22. Fredrikson, M; Annas, P; Fischer, H; Wik, G. “Gender and age differences in the prevalence of specific fears and phobias”. (Behaviour Research and Therapy, 1996) 23, 24 Vlok-Barnard Michelle, Stein Dan J, Trypophobia: an investigation of clinical features (Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria, 2017) 25, 26 Siqi Zhu, Kyoshiro Sasaki, Yue Jiang, Kun Qian, Yuki Yamada, Trypophobia as an urbanized emotion (PeerJ 2020) 27, 28 Mayor Eric, Meyer Andrea, Miani Alessandro, Lieb Roselind, An exploration of the nomological network of Trypophobia (PLoS One. 2021)
as one that “relies more on sensory and perceptual processes”29. Individuals prone to trypophobia are suggested to be associated with emotional empathic traits such as perspective taking, empathic concern, and personal distress30. Some researchers have suggested connections between patients experiencing visual discomfort, which may be considered trypophobia, and migraines as well as epilepsy31. The correlation has already been found in patients experiencing discomfort when exposed to strip clusters32.
ORGINS The uncertainty about what causes trypophobic responses, whether it is a pattern as such or a specific object, makes it even more difficult to provide a confident explanation of the causes of a phenomenon where images can cause such intense sensations in some subjects. Nevertheless, several hypotheses have been developed and investigated that can be divided into three categories – relating to toxin/contagiousness (TOXICITY), social disorder (SOCIAL CONDITIONS), and the high energy costs of processing trypophobic visual patterns as such (VISUAL PROCESSING). At the end of the chapter, there are also suggestions of other plausible explanations that seem to have gone unexplored so far.
29. Yu Luo, Weilin Shen, Yu Zhang, Ting-yong Feng, Hao Huang, Hong Li Core disgust and moral disgust are related to distinct spatiotemporal patterns of neural processing: An event-related potential study (Biol Psychol. 2013) 30. Shu Imaizumi, Manami Furuno, Haruo Hibino, and Shinichi Koyama, Trypophobia is predicted by disgust sensitivity, empathic traits, and visual discomfort (Springerplus. 2016) 31. J. C Martínez-Aguayo, R. C. Lanfranco, M. Arancibia, E. Sepúlveda, E. Madrid, Trypophobia What Do We Know So Far A Case Report and Comprehensive Review of the Literature, (Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2018) 32. F. Alkhalifa, A. Wilkins, N. Almurbati, J. Pinelo, Examining the visual effect of trypophobic repetitive pattern in contemporary urban environments, Bahrain as a case for middle east countries (Journal of architecture and urbanism, 2020)
TOXICITY It is speculated that the disgust reaction may be related to overgeneralized disease avoidance responses33 resulting from our evolutionary defence response against toxins or pathogens34, which may also be projected onto non-threatening objects35. The main triggers could be toxic or venomous organisms (mainly animals)36 or physically visible symptoms of contagious diseases37. Many poisonous plants or animals feature bright warning colours on a contrasting dark background (or vice versa), a number of these patterns can be classified as characteristically trypophobic. Examples include: Poison dart frogs, Blue-ringed octopus and European green toad. Moreover, during studies, it was found that images of highly poisonous animals possess spectral features similar to trypophobic images, which further supports this hypothesis38.
33. Kupfer TR, Le AT, Disgusting clusters: trypophobia as an overgeneralised disease avoidance response (Cogn Emot. 2018) 34, 35 and Assessment of trypophobia and an analysis of its visual precipitation(Cole and Wilkins 2013; Skaggs 2014) 36. Is Trypophobia a Phobia? Kupfer TR, Le ATD. Disgusting clusters: trypophobia as an overgeneralised disease avoidance response. (Cogn Emot, 2017) 38. Cole GG, Wilkins AJ. Fear of holes. (Psychol Sci, 2013)
Other researchers have suggested that trypophobia may be a learned avoidance response to pathogens visually recognisable by skin malformations39. Chickenpox, Roseola or Fifth disease may serve as examples. However, it is worth noting that it is not necessarily a question of contagiousness, as in the case of the previously mentioned diseases. The reaction may also be due to disgust with wounds or scars, although these relationships have not yet been investigated. Under these categories, in the context of disgust, it would appear to be core disgust (based on the sensory and perceptual processes40), animal-reminder disgust (resulting from a sense of mortality and our primal nature), and interpersonal disgust (resulting from negative feelings towards exposure to an infected or infectious subject)41. The studies to investigate these correlations are constrained by the fact that patients experiencing trypophobia also manifest it in relation to non-threatening objects, although, interestingly, negative responses from non-trypophobic respondents were only reported in relation to infectious/danger stimuli42.
39. Yamada Y, Sasaki K. 2017. Involuntary protection against dermatosis: a preliminary observation on trypophobia (BMC Research Notes, 2017) 40. Bunmi O. Olatunjia, Jonathan Haidtb, Dean Mc Kayc, Bieke Davida, Core, animal reminder, and contamination disgust: Three kinds of disgust with distinct personality, behavioral, physiological, and clinical correlates (Journal of Research in Personality, 2008) 41. Vlok-Barnard M, Stein DJ. Trypophobia: an investigation of clinical features. (Braz J Psychiatry. 2017) 42,43 TQ, Liebowitz Social Anxiety (SA) Scale, Discomfort Rating Score Chaya K, Xue Y, Uto Y, Yao Q, Yamada Y. Fear of eyes: triadic relation among social anxiety, trypophobia, and discomfort for eye cluster. (PeerJ, 2016)
SOCIAL CONDITIONS The second category links trypophobia with other mental health conditions, in particular social anxiety. Some studies suggest correlations between these disorders, which may suggest that circles or holes are read as eyes (and as a cluster of human face/faces)43. The main link could be anxiety sensitivity (anxiety manifestations as danger and fear) which is one of the biggest trails of social phobia, which manifests itself in fear of eye contact or of being gazed at44. This symptom can be associated with trypophobia. Some researchers have found the respondents had a comparable emotional response while exposed to clusters of holes and faces with eyes. This might suggest that trypophobia is the negative side of face pareidolia – the “phenomenon of seeing face-like structures in everyday objects”45. In this case, disgust would have an interpersonal basis, although except from disgust, more emphasis seems to be placed on fear, and therefore potential relationship with social anxiety disorder.
46. Sasaki K, Yamada Y, Kuroki D, Miura K. Trypophobic discomfort is spatial-frequency dependent. (Adv Cogn Psychol, 2017) 47. after: Assessment of trypophobia and an analysis of its visual precipitation e.g., 2001; Wilkins, Andermann, & Ives, 1975) (e.g., Fernandez & Wilkins, 2008; O’Hare & Hibbard, 2011; Wilkins et al., 1984).
VISUAL PROCESSING
The last category emphasises that discomfort could stem from the repetitive patterns themselves, which could deviate too much from natural images46. Trypophobic images possess a particular low-level visual characteristic that gives rise to relatively large usage of oxygen by the brain47. It discourages us from seeing these patterns by evoking negative emotions. This hypothesis may be related to the previous ones, for instance as a simplified reaction against venomous animals. These types of disgust can be classified as core disgust as they are based on visual and sensory perception processes.
OTHER SUGGESTIONS In examining trypophobia, it seems important to examine more closely one of the key features of trypophobia, that is holes. The uncertainty of what they hide and their frequent looping may be a key factor that causes the negative emotion. In the surveys conducted for the purpose of the thesis respondents’ answers to questions about what they believe is a trypophobic trigger: “Deep dark
49. P. Rozin, A. Fallon, How Disgust Explains Everything; The Psychological Categorization of Foods and Non-foods: A Preliminary Taxonomy of Food Rejections, (Appetite, 1980)
clusters of holes”, “Lots of holes and things sitting in holes”, “Holes or things coming out of holes”, “Clusters of open holes”, “Images of things coming out of holes or like something is going to come out”, “something coming out of the holes”, may suggest aversion or fear of the unknown or emptiness and what it might hold. In 2nd chapter, this will be explored in the context of culturally familiar fears of the new, the unknown and the nothingness, with an emphasis on the aesthetic representation of scare of the void represented by horror vacui. Another connection – more related to disgust – may be an exaggerated protective response against contamination in the context of food, especially one unsustainable for consumption because of the mold. It goes in line with Rozin’s theory of disgust in which he argues it is a survival reaction, weaning 49 humans off spoiled food . It is worth noting that many of the unicellular fungi form patterns consisting of small dots, other forms of food spoilage can coagulate air bubbles and insects, as indicators of spoiled food, may appear. Opinions of respondents to the survey suggested that there might be some connection with organic matter, food or a representation of spoilage (such as decomposition and insects): “organic/decomposition (…) holes”, “Nature (food/ plants) “, “The one of organic matter” and “cluster of insects”.
49. after How Disgust Explains Everything; P. Rozin, A. Fallon, The Psychological Categorization of Foods and Non-foods: A Preliminary Taxonomy of Food Rejections (Appetite, 1980)
Despite an assumed significant population of people experiencing negative emotions related to trypophobia, the phenomenon is not well understood, partly, due to the research being done only on a small fraction of trypophobic people – those who experience significant effects of it. The study of the general population sample and people with moderate negative emotional responses could allow a better understanding of the phenomenon. In addition, the examination of people experiencing curiosity and attraction, which would help to understand the ambivalence of the phenomenon, or its other side – trypomania. Currently, existing studies on the subject show that there can be certain characteristics predisposing to experience serious trypophobia. Despite this, there is no consensus in the medical and scientific community on how to classify trypophobia in the context of mental conditions. Hypotheses attempting to explain the phenomenon can be grouped under the categories of toxicity, social conditioning, and visual processing. This work proposes two explanations which do not yet appear to have been investigated in sufficient depth, one related to toxicity – regarding negative reactions to spoiled food, and the other – tied to the holes themselves and their disturbing unknowability arising from their existence.
2. TRYPOPHOBIA AND TRYPOMANIA: OF DISGUST AND DESIRE As discussed in the previous chapter, it is difficult to define this phenomenon and its origin. Nevertheless, in the case of trypophobia, regardless of the classification, one unpleasant emotion is certain – disgust (in some cases, it can be parallel to attraction, which the thesis will return to later). Etymologically derived from Latin, “disgust” is aversion aroused by something highly distasteful50. According to the Cambridge Dictionary51, it is an emotional response or a feeling of extreme dislike or disagreement. This chapter discusses disgust in physical and psychological terms, addressing in turn the interaction between the bodies and its consequences as in the relationship between object and skin – a protective barrier and the risk of contagiousness arising from its proximity. It presents other visual characteristics of trypophobia, that is holes and the unknown resolving from their hiddenness as well as nuanced human preference for symmetry. It also discusses the ambivalence of the emotion of disgust, showing its correlation with desire through the lens of aesthetical (and moral) evaluation.
50. disgust, accessed: 24/04/2022 https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disgust, 51. disgust, Cambridge Dictionary, accessed: 2022-04-24 https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ dictionary/english/disgust
That starts with examining the relationship between emotions, body, and objects which Sara Ahmed52, an intersectional feminist’ writer and scholar, and Carolyn Korsmeyer, a writer and researcher focusing on aesthetics, feminism, and emotion theory, consider to be crucial with regard to disgust. For Korsmeyer, this negative reaction seems to be “as much physical reaction as emotion”53 and therefore, it is a primal, yet very human response54. One can be disgusted, that is to have both psychological as well as a physical reaction, only by having the object of disgust. Therefore, this chapter will begin by exploring how materiality – the object of disgust and of the body that perceives disgust (with the emphasis on the skin) – plays a crucial role in humans’ emotional reception and aesthetic judgments. Ahmed distinguishes two characteristics of disgust: its “badness” transfer from the aesthetical realm to morality and contagiousness55. She addresses the second value by introducing the concept of “stickiness”56. It serves as an illustration of the proximity between the object of disgust and the human, the contagiousness of disgusting stimuli as well as the collapse of the boundary between the human body (skin) and the object. The concept of stickiness can be a helpful tool for better understanding the contagiousness of disgust through embodied experiences. It can be seen as a metaphorical idea, based on the traditional beliefs about object boundaries and their penetrability. Significantly, the first physical point of contact of the body with stimuli is the skin. Its importance is well exemplified by pre-Enlightenment Western beliefs in which the skin was only a partial protective
52. Ahmed Sarah, The Cultural Politics of Emotion (Edinburgh University Press, 2004) 53. Korsmeyer Carolyn, Savoring disgust: the foul and the fair in aesthetics (Oxford University Press, 2011), 3 54. Korsmeyer Carolyn, Savoring disgust: the foul and the fair in aesthetics (Oxford University Press, 2011), 9 55. Ahmed Sarah, The Cultural Politics of Emotion (Edinburgh University Press, 2004), 89 56. Ahmed Sarah, The Cultural Politics of Emotion (Edinburgh University Press, 2004), 84
layer – water was believed to penetrate through it, hence the important status of bathing as a ritual, to combat stickiness at that time57. This idea of a delicate protective layer, which is not only sensorial shielding between the body and the outside environment but also the first point of contact or even penetration, is still subconsciously present in the culture. These essential functions and the great connection with the bodily self can be the explanation why skin (the largest organ of the human body) is one of the most frequently (re)produced trypophobic/manic images. Popular iconography depicts young women with soft, white skin covered with dimples that hide disturbing, undefined, foreign bodies. A lot of this malformations are reproduced in “body genre” horror and action films, with the addition of hyper-realistic make-up58. Antagonistic characters are often being portrayed with trypophobic skin deformation, to name a few: Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street, Invisible man from The Invisible Man (2020), and Killmonger from Black Panther59. As commented by the respondents from the survey carried as a part of the thesis: “Body images were the worst”, “Hand with bump and holes in it”, “Skin related images”,
57. Geoorges VIgarello, Historia czystosci i brudu (Aletheia, 2012) , 9 58 Ngai Sianne, Our aesthetic categories: zany, cute, interesting (Harvard University Press, 2015) 5 59 Wagner, Keith D,, Croley, Julie A, Wilson, Janice M Trypophobia, skin, and media (Dermatology Online Journal, 2018)
“human skin or holes, especially small ones”, “Human or skin types”, “Things on skin”. Moreover, in the respondents’ image evaluation, the one presenting the deformation of the skin on the hand received the most negative reactions, as many as 81% evaluated it very negatively and 91% considered it trypophobic. Skin is the first element and is extremely important as a “vessel” that is able to ensure the integrity and cleanliness of the subject60. However, it is only the first barrier to protecting the body. In a situation of disgust, there appears to be a threat. Particularly essential in regard of body/skin contact with the repulsive object, during the event in which human bodies experience disgust. Ahmed argues that the disgusting feeling is inescapable. At the moment of sudden and intensive interaction, human bodies want to immediately push away, yet the object comes closer. She notes that through the strength of the experience, as a result of a strong emotion occurring, the object becomes the focal point. This thesis argues that it is not the object of disgust – the trypophobic image/object – that seems to move closer in the situation of experiencing it, but the observer is the one that unconsciously attracts it. The reason for this is that object of disgust has taken a central position for a person experiencing disgust. Firstly, to control the danger and have it in our proximity in order to control it and secondly, because disgust is a strong, never one-dimensional emotion and has the side of forbidden fascination. This can be easily seen in the blurred relationship between trypophobia – expressing fear and disgust – and trypomania – with curiosity and fascination. In the 3rd chapter, the thesis will examine how – through the Internet – trypophobic images, by their intensity of characteristics and the sensations they give, can
60. Ahmed Sarah, The Cultural Politics of Emotion (Edinburgh University Press, 2004), 68
be quickly transmitted to other bodies, and spread easily. Perhaps it is the polarisation of distance and proximity; cleanliness and contagiousness that makes the feeling of disgust and of trypophobia necessarily intense, but ambivalent. Although always negative (repulsive) at first, as Ahmed expresses, it is “involving desire for, or an attraction towards, the very objects that are felt to be repellent”61. Based on Arendt’s notion of “thing-word”, it can be considered that aesthetic judgements are in many ways “double-sided”, or even multi-dimensional, by being “subjective and objective, evaluative and descriptive, conceptual and perceptual” 62 . Drawing on this idea, the thesis proposes to extend the terminology of this internet phenomenon, or, more precisely, these phenomena, and, in addition to “trypophobia” it suggests “trypomania”, which points to a fascination with the images. It is worth leaning into the already articulated dichotomy associated with disgust (trypophobia) and its opposite – or complement – attraction (trypomania). By definition, desire is a strong attraction toward something63. Sianne Ngai examines this relationship, stating that “disgust is urgent and specific, (while) desire can be ambivalent and vague”64. This can be seen in the very distinction between the phenomena – trypophobia is the one named and displayed on the internet, while trypomania sneaks in pictures and forums but without description or greater consideration. By this point it is also worth dwelling on the moral evaluation of aesthetic values. In line with a broader theory of aesthetics, Ngai65 notes
61. Ahmed Sarah, The Cultural Politics of Emotion (Edinburgh University Press, 2004), 84 62. Ngai Sianne, Our aesthetic categories: zany, cute, interesting (Harvard University Press, 2015) 63. Desire, Cambridge dictionary, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/desire 64. Ngai Sianne, Ugly Feelings (Harvard University Press, 207)337
that established aesthetic classifications frame values beyond the realm of aesthetics, such as moral qualities. Therefore, beauty can be perceived as good and right in opposition to ugly, with a connotation with qualities such as bad, shamefully or prejudiced. This can have two implications for people with trypophobia: first, shame and fear of revealing their problems, due to the “ugliness” of these images, connotated with “wrongness” etc., and secondly, individuals might be struggling with their non-negative reactions to the trypophobic stimuli, rejecting the idea that they can be attracted towards “ugly” (“bad”) images. This is not only a matter for individuals but it also relates to the perception of the world and the formation of social groups. Following Kant (and his Critique of Judgment), Ngai conveys those emotions, aesthetical judgements, followed by emotions and their subsequent analysis, are one of the main determinants of our ability to be relational in the world. She states that aesthetic evaluations are responsible for the formation and sustainment of social groups. The thesis investigates these formations of groups in the 3rd chapter, looking into large and active online communities of people with trypophobia and trypomania. For explaining the dual emotions of attraction and disgust the term “attractive disgust” may be applied. Trypomania and trypophobia can be understood as an aesthetic (online) variant of what Paul Rozin, one of the main researchers of disgust in the context of psychiatry, has been studying. He coined the term “benign masochism”66, a phenomenon in which people feel pleasure while experiencing negative emotions if they also feel physical safety. Similar ideas were named “aesthetic disgust” 67. In the context of trypophobia, howev65. Ngai Sianne, Our aesthetic categories: zany, cute, interesting (Harvard University Press, 2015) 66. Paul Rozin, Lily Guillot, Katrina Fincher, Alexander Rozin, Eli Tsukayama, Glad to be sad, and other examples of benign masochism (Judgment and Decision Making, Vol. 8, 2013) 67. Korsmeyer Carolyn, Savoring disgust: the foul and the fair in aesthetics (Oxford University Press, 2011), 58
er, this seems less definite. While there are indeed people who derive pleasure from viewing trypophobic images, a large number of people (trypophobic) experience mainly negative emotions, having only sporadic mixed feelings (and along with an occasional unstoppable urge to view these images). Rozin’s research on food and disgust proves helpful as well. He starts with the presumption that every disgust has its origin in a defence reaction against “spoiled” food, placing humans in a very fragile balanced position, between neophilia – which allows one to explore, acquire, and test food – and neophobia which protects against unfit ingredients for consumption68. This concept can also be translated from the sensory assessment of food to the visual evaluation of aesthetics, in the context of images that evoke extreme emotions (negative, repulsive, repugnance and positive, attractive, attractiveness), in this case particularly trypophobic images. Another issue worth discussing in the context of neophilia and neophobia, which is essential to trypophobia, is the holes themselves. However, these (anti)objects, recognizable for human bodies are problematic to explain69. The holes seem to have shapes and to be countable but at the same time, they present themselves to be just a negative of other objects or nothingness70. With the aesthetic context, the fear of void was so often visible in the artworks, that it was even given its own name. Horror vacui, as it is referred to, is an aesthetical variant of kenophobia or fear of nothingness. It is worth pointing out here, however, that it is not only the unknown or the empty that can trigger negative emotions. There may seem to be a slight contradiction here. The studies on preferable images patterns show that humans favour images that are less complex, although they do not necessarily opt for the simplest
68. P.Rozin, April Fallon, The Psychological Categorization of Foods and Non-foods: A Preliminary Taxonomy of Food Rejections (Appetite, 1980) 69. Holes, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy; https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/holes/ 70. Nothingness, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosoph, The restriction to concrete entities, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nothingness/, chapter 4.
ones71. Of the more complex images, respondents show a preference for symmetrical images72. Perhaps this could be the primary reason trypophobic images, which often have an irregular distribution of holes or circles (or other shapes), arouse negative emotions. By discussing the basic characteristics of trypophobia, the wider context can be seen, particularly from the perspective of an omitted feeling of attraction that accompanies trypomania. This phenomenon is recognised as “attractive disgust” which brings the complexity and ambiguity of the phenomenon closer. Relationships between body, skin and object were discussed in the context of proximity, contagiousness and placement of the disgusting object in a centre of focus. A discussion of the most key features of the patterns – holes, emptiness – allows, in the II chapter, to propose new hypotheses as to how trypophobia arises. The last chapter further develops trypophobic “attractive disgust” in the environment of the Internet, based on findings from this chapter which indicate that views about the world and social groups through aesthetic judgements.
71. Eisenman Russell, Complexity-simplicity: I. Preference for symmetry and rejection of complexity (Psychonomic Science, 1967) 72. Chien-Chung Chen,Jo-Hsuan Wu, Chia-Ching Wu, Reduction of Image Complexity Explains Aesthetic Preference for Symmetry (Symmetry, 2011)
3. ONLINE PHENOMENA, POP CULTURE AND DESIGN This chapter presents the cultural context in which trypophobia and trypomania occur. From pop culture with its celebrities and movies, through design with a big share of modern technologies visual appearance, to discussing the online environment. The paper, in line with the distinction made earlier between trypophobia and trypomania, identifies two online communities: trypophobia support groups and trypomania viral groups. It also discusses the limitation of this categorisation, recognising that they are places where members do not always seem to act in accordance with their vocalised goals or interests. This can also be seen in the results of the surveys conducted, where almost 20% of individuals declaring trypophobia participated in online groups sharing (triggering for them) trypophobic images. The thesis reflects on the Internet as a place which through the sense of impunity, relying on polarising emotions, enables new ways of interactions, and therefore the creation and consumption of “attractively disgusting” content.
POP CULTURE and DESIGN Trypophobia (and hidden trypomania) is often used as an eye-catcher in clickbait articles and posts. Consumers can easily take dozens of tests to see if they also do have trypophobia: Do you have Trypophobia; These 22 Photos Will Help You Figure Out If You Have Trypophobia73; 100% Safe Trypophobia Test. This 2021 Quiz Reveals Your Fear74 writes the headlines. Medical or health-related portals are not being left behind and they ask – Is trypophobia real?75 and answer – Everything You Need to Know About Trypophobia (Fear of Holes)76. From the internet articles readers can learn that Kendall Jenner (for Keeping up with Kardashians) is afraid of pancakes due to their irregular bubbly patterns77. Popular YouTube creator PewDiePie (111M subscribers)makes a video 78 where he faces the phobia watching the disturbing images. Cultural or pop cultural pieces from popular to alternative seem to reference this phobia – horror television series American Horror Story adver73. Jahner Phil, These 22 Photos Will Help You Figure Out If You Have Trypophobia; (Buzzfeed 2018) accessed: 23.02.2022; https://www.buzzfeed.com/philippjahner/do-you-have-trypophobia 74. 100% Safe Trypophobia Test. This 2021 Quiz Reveals Your Fear (quizexpo) accessed 23.02.2022; https://www.quizexpo.com/trypophobia-test/ 75. Timothy J. Legg, Smith Lori, Is trypophobia real?; Medically reviewed by Timothy J. Legg, PhD, PsyD — Written by Lori Smith (medicalnewstoday, 2018) accessed 23.02.2022; https:// www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/32051276. 76. Bethany Juby, Annamarya Scaccia, Crystal Raypole, Everything You Need to Know About Trypophobia (Fear of Holes); (healthline, 2022); accessed: 23.02.2022; https://www.healthline. com/health/trypophobia 77. Dirk Winifred, Kendall Jenner Is Afraid of Pancakes Because of a Weird Phobia; (Showbiz Cheatsheet, 2022) accessed: 20.02.2022 https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/kendall-jenner-is-afraid-of-pancakes-because-of-a-weird-phobia.html/ 78. (WARNING GROSS) CURING MY TRYPOPHOBIA; Yutube; PewDiePie; accessed: 20.02.2022; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdMCyi _ Avzc
tised its 2017 edition (that featured character suffering from trypophobia) with very trypophobic posters 79 and American experimental hip hop group Death Grips put on the cover of their 2018 album, Year of the Snitch, an image that seems to refer to these patterns80 . As mentioned in Chapter 2, also many negative fictional characters are endowed with skin lesions that may be trypophobic81. Although some of the trypophobic images or objects seem to be created intentionally to gain some publicity or arouse discomfort, other arise by accident. Popular online role-playing game Final Fantasy has redesigned its sage logo when some of the gamers felt “uncomfortable or fearful”82. Despite the designers’ intentions, Toyota Tundra grille can also evoke unpleasant feelings83. When Apple released the new Mac Pro in 2019, some
79. holy moly! People with a phobia of HOLES are horrified by new American Horror Story ads that show a gruesome holey tongue and gaping honeycomb brain ; Becky Pemberton; The Sun; accessed 20.02.2022; https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/4381860/phobia-holes-horrified-new-american-horror-story-ads/ 80. accessed: 20.02.2022; https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/death-grips/year-of-thesnitch/ 81. Wagner, Keith D, Croley, Julie A, Wilson, Janice M Trypophobia, skin, and media (Dermatology Online Journal, 2018) 82. Final Fantasy 14 has redesigned an icon to prevent triggering trypophobia ; Vikki Blake; Games Radar; accessed: 20.02.2022; https://www.gamesradar.com/final-fantasy-14-has-redesigned-an-icon-to-prevent-triggering-trypophobia/ 83. Here Are All Of The 2022 Toyota Tundra’s Giant Grilles ; Adam Ismail; Jalopnik; accessed: 20.02.2022; https://jalopnik.com/here-are-all-of-the-2022-toyota-tundras-giantgrilles-1847709079
people were comparing it to a big cheese grater, some were triggered. An analogous situation took place with iPhone 11 Pro and its design. Users were shocked by its three-camera lens 84. Shortly after the release, a number of memes were created showing Apple’s future designs with the iPhone 22 all covered in objects and creating a disturbing, trypophobic pattern85. Modern design trends that aim to improve objects properties, such as durability or aesthetics, could easily come as trypophobic because of the structures rich in small, repetitive patterns. These methods, often found in architecture: parametrisation with shapes defined by algorithms and biomimicry providing emulation of nature, may adversely affect the well-being of city inhabitants86.
84. Does the new iPhone creep you out? Scientists grapple with why tiny holes scare some people.; Washington Post; Katie Shepherd; accessed: 20.02.2022; https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/09/12/iphone-trypophobia-three-lenses-camera/ 85. It’s making me nauseous’: Three-camera cluster on the new iPhone 11 is triggering people’s trypophobia as Twitter users with the fear of small holes say the phones are ‘creepy’ ; IAN RANDALL FOR MAILONLINE ; accessed: 20.02.2022; https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ sciencetech/article-7452207/Three-camera-cluster-new-iPhone-11-triggering-peoples-trypophobia.html 86. Alkhalifa, A. Wilkins, N. Almurbati, J. Pinelo, Examining the visual effect of trypophobic repetitive pattern in contemporary urban environments, Bahrain as a case for middle east countries (Journal of architecture and urbanism, 2020)
INTERNET As previously indicated, it is crucial to look at trypophobia and trypomania in the context of the Internet. Online activities related to the trend could be divided into two types of groups (named for the purposes of the text as follow): “support groups”, directed to trypophobic people who seek a sense of community, support or want to spread help, and “viral groups” – for trypomanic people – which publish trypophobic images for satisfaction. Repeatedly, there is a difficulty with recognising trypophobic images – whether they are perceived as negative, positive or ambivalent – as well as understanding intentions and desires of members of the groups. Based on the conducted survey, both groups seem to also have participants experiencing mixed emotions concerning trypophobic images. Of 103 respondents claiming to have trypophobia, 75 decided to answer the survey with trypophobia images and 20% of them declared to be participating in forums/groups where trypophobic images are shared.
TRYPOPHOBIA SUPPORT GROUPS/PLATFORMS Facebook group Trypophobia, Fear of Clusters of Holes87, can be considered the biggest support group as it consists of 14.400 members. It was created in 2007 and its members are currently posting 1 post every 3 days on average (gaining approximately 5 to 30 comments for each post), creating an active online forum of users posting and commenting regularly. On another platform YouTube, the most viewed videos which encourage the cure of trypophobia have88 1,149,862 views, Why Trypophobia Is Not Real and How to Cure It 89; 115,016 views, Cure Trypophobia in 30 Minutes: Free Online YouTube - Therapy using Havening Techniques® 90; 30,241 views Trypophobia Cure! How To Treat Trypophobia 91; 69,987 views – Cure for Trypophobia92; 13,181 views - Trypophobia: Why We’re Afraid of Holes Close to Each Other (Trypophobia Test & Trypophobia Cure)93. Looking at this data, it can be stated that there is a need for trypophobic people to share their negative feelings and look for others who understand them as well as to seek help to solve the problem (both from support groups and online guides). 87. Trypophobia, Fear of Clusters of Holes, Faceook, access 10/01/2022 https://www.facebookcom/groups/3318322299 88. YouTube; search Cure Trypophobia; accessed: 10/01/2022 89. Brew, Why Trypophobia Is Not Real and How to Cure It (YouTube, 2020) accessed: 10/01/2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAKk--JHCyo&t=90s 90. Hypnovita, Cure Trypophobia in 30 Minutes: Free Online YouTube-Therapy using Havening Techniques (Youtube, 2014) accessed: 10/01/202, https://youtu.be/a47YBeDAnnw 91. Trypophobia by World’s Greatest Medical, Trypophobia Cure! How To Treat Trypophobia (YouTube, 2014), accessed: 10/01/2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_0sgN4WiPE&ab_channel=TrypophobiabyWorld%27sGreatestMedical 92. tristansuicide, Cure for Trypophobia (YouTube, 2011), accessed: 10/01/202, https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=G7NhcyT-NnE 93. Goody Feed TV,Trypophobia: Why We’re Afraid of Holes Close to Each Other (YouTube, 2011), accessed: 10/01/2022, https://youtu.be/0VJFroimYy8
TRYPOMANIA VIRAL GROUPS Trypophobic images on the internet are being posted as “attractive disgusting” images to get trypomanic (positive/ambivalent) responses, although “trypophobia” is almost the only keyword under which they appear. On Reddit the thread “The most common phobia you’ve never heard of. Trypophobia” that contains only trypophobic images has 84K members94, where they share approximately 10 images per day. The hashtag #trypophobia has 68,181 posts assigned on Instagram95. On the video-focused social networking, TikTok #trypophobia hashtag has 612.5 million views, with #trypophobiawarning 12,2M, and #trypophobiachallenge 401,3K96. Despite frequent complaints about the awfulness of these images, looking at the amounts of likes and boosts, it seems that there is a great need to see these images, not only by trypomanic individuals but also the ones that could be considered trypophobic.
94. The most common phobia you’ve never heard of. (eddit) accessed: 31/03/2022 . https://www.reddit.com/r/trypophobia/; 95. https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/trypophobia/ accessed 10/01/2022 96. https://www.tiktok.com/ accessed 24/10/2022
TRENDS According to Google Trends97, first searches are visible in December 2007 and the peak of popularity of the term was reached in December 2015 (marked as 100) and from this time oscillating quite steadily between 53 and 19 points. The greatest interest occurred in the regions (in order): Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, South Africa, and Malaysia. On Google Ads98, the average monthly searches were estimated between 1 to 10 million, indicating the related questions - in sequence: fear of holes (100K – 1M); phobia of holes (10K – 100K); trypophobia skin (10K – 100K); trypophobia meaning (10K – 100K); fear of small holes (10K – 100K); trypophobia images 1K – 10K). Following wording has been suggested by the ’refine keywords’ tool: skin, hands, and lotus. According to this data, the phenomenon of trypophobia generates a fair amount of traffic on the Internet every day. In earlier chapters, the thesis attempted to answer the question of what it is about the characteristics of trypophobia that makes it an object of such a strong emotion. It can be argued that trypophobia can be considered a “meme”, that is “an idea, together with its representation and the connection between itself and its representation (that) form a transmissible unit”99. It is a piece of information, idea or a symbol passed from one mind to another through imitable actions. Therefore, trypophobia can be recognized as a meme. It is holding particular characteristics that can even be considered holding symbolic meaning (holes, nothingness, skin), and has key pattern features (chaotic repetitiveness of the pattern). Moreover, it is transmitted in
97. https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=trypophobia accessed 24/01/2022 98. https://ads.google.com/ using Key Word plan, profile: All locations; English language; All time available (Jan 2018-Dec2021); accessed 24/10/2022 99. Salingaros Nikos A., Architectural memes in a universe of information (Theory of Architecture, 2014)
large numbers and in various forms but with the preservation of its special characteristics. The most powerful medium for conveying this phenomenon is the online environment. Therefore, it is also necessary to lean into the qualities of the Internet, which allows this content to spread easily. Because of its unique characteristics, the online environment creates space for different forms of expression. Providing, among other things, “dissociative anonymity, invisibility, asynchronicity (non-real-time interactions), solipsistic introjection (non-face-to-face communication), dissociative imagination (reality escapism), and minimization of authority”100, it enables suppressed feeling and thoughts to be expressed. This effect is called “the online disinhibition effect”101. Two types are distinguished: “benign disinhibition”, which allows generosity and kindness to happen and “toxic disinhibition” creating space for threat and violence102 and both can be seen in the trypophobia case – in support groups and viral ones. The thesis argues that internet activity, as in the case of trypophobia and typomania, goes beyond binary schemes, creating space for uncanny phenomena. It claims that the Internet has significantly broadened previously limited, due to the tabooisation of ‘bad’ aesthetics by society, opportunities for experiencing “attractively disgusting” images. Within an online environment which creates a space where anonymity supplies an atmosphere of digital freedom, the production and reproduction of these images are expanding and seem almost contagious.
100-102 Suler John, The Online Disinhibition Effect (CyberPsychology & Behavior, 2004)
As one of the survey’s respondent shares: “I describe my feelings of these types of images as “hurts so good.” In a way they repel me and disgust me but somehow those emotions are pleasurable? I can’t get enough of really creepy trypophobic images, it’s like I just want to run my hands all over the holes/bumps.” It is to be expected that the range of attractiveness of aesthetic choices, as Ngai states103, that is offered in far greater amount in a commodified capitalist society, may decrease due to reinforcementof the disgusting ugliness – or “attractive disgust” – due to influence of the Internet. The phenomena of trypophobia/trypomania, is its harbinger and a good case in in witnessing the development of this trend.
103. Sianne Ngai, Our aesthetic categories: zany, cute, interesting (Harvard University Press, 2015), 15
SUMMARY The thesis, besides showing an overview of the scientific and medical research on trypophobia, is aiming to broaden the discussion surrounding the phenomena, investigating its characteristics, such as holes, irregularity, repetition, skin, and body. It puts emphasis on the ambiguity of the emotions when encountering these patterns, discussing not only disgust (and fear) but also attraction – defining it as “trypomania”. Embedding occurrence in a cultural context, especially through Internet, demonstrates that these pattern images can be seen as part of the “attractively disgusting” category. This genre can flourish in the online environment because of the cultural carrier of meanings/symbols of trypophobia. Although online trends currently seem to be considered niche, their importance is growing, especially when they fill previously unexploited niches, such as “attractive disgust” aesthetic category.
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IMAGES
INTRODUCTION
1. (NON)MEDICAL RESEARCH, SUBJECTS AND OBJECTS
2. TRYPOPHOBIA AND TRYPOMANIA: OF DISGUST AND DESIRE
3. ONLINE PHENOMENA, POP CULTURE AND DESIGN
INTRODUCTION
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CHAPTER 1.
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CHAPTER 2.
CHAPTER 3.
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APPENDIX survey results: image evaluation For the purpose of this paper, the surveys were conducted: the first survey – in which participants were asked to answer questions and second survey where participants were asked to answer questions and rate the images. A total of 173 responses was collected. The first survey has been completed by 145 responders and second by 28.