Hast du Lust?
Group show and events at Improper Walls
Vernissage: May 25, 7-10 PM
Exhibition: May 26 - June 24, Wed - Fr, 3–7 PM
Performance by Marko Markovic: May 25, 8 PM
“Open Mic” hosted by ZIMT: June 2, 6 PM
Installation "(un)telling pleasure" by puro conjuro (part I): June 8, 5–8 PM
Screening of a short film “AUTOAGGRESSION” by Martin Willibald Meisl: June 9, 8 PM
Artist Talk with Merybell Nabilah Reynoso: June 14, 6 PM
IMPROPER READING: Circle no. 3 moderated by Lina Piskernik: June 15, 6 PM
Installation "(un)telling pleasure" by puro conjuro (part II): June 22, 5–8 PM
Art proved to be an essential tool to draw attention to social and environmental issues throughout history. After speaking about the general shame surrounding the symptoms of mental disorders, for this year's Mental Health Awareness Month, we are using contemporary art to discuss the role of mental health within the context of sexual pleasure. With the persevering stigma and lack of sex education, we need every opportunity and medium to open up a discussion on these topics, particularly their interconnectedness.
Nine artists selected via open call brought up topics that uncovered still only a fragment of what prevents us from enjoying our bodies in an individually truthful way. The previous century's sexual revolution, while liberating a few, didn't erase deeply rooted systemic issues. Not only a very few of us were taught to seek pleasure and embrace it in a unique way, many of us question how deserving of feeling it we are in the first place. This high level of lack of self-worth is particularly present in the abuse survivors — a theme that the exhibition's focus opened up inevitably. Whether dealing with the consequences of another's attack or the almost invisible phenomenon of auto aggression, it all comes down to the fact that no one is experiencing violence for the first time when causing it.[1]
Presented artworks can then be perceived as witnesses to the harm done to our collective self, proving once again that mental health is societal health. They remind us that we still live in a patriarchal society where desperate women seek misogynistic and scientifically inaccurate procedures of hymen reconstruction to avoid everything from feelings of shame to physical death and where men are the ones deciding abortion rights. Even in a democratic country with relative access to the procedure, fear of unwanted pregnancy can strongly affect mental health and erase the pleasure from intercourse. While these struggles disproportionately concern women, body-image issues affect everyone regardless of gender or sexual orientation. Combined with a religious glorification of suffering, sexual stigma, generally present homophobia, transphobia, racism, a lack of diversity and natural bodies in popular culture, along with media (mis)representation of mental disorders — the context-dependent pleasure can be almost impossible to achieve for many.
The project Hast du lust? invites us to look at social phenomenons from a different perspective, to recognize neglected parts of ourselves mirrored in another's intimate story but also to contemplate the role of a bystander — responsibility and the consequences of being the one who watches.
[1] Rozpustilý*í: Káťa Kortus a Ela Plíhalová: “Snění o abolicionistickém feminismu” in Kapitál 04/2022 (translated from Czech original into English by the author).
Curated by:
Improper Walls
Partners
Jury
Anastasia Kuznetsova is a cofounder and creative director of the Made of Millions Foundation, overseeing all creative produced by MMF. Anastasia has been involved in the organization since its inception in 2016. Her bold design work differentiated the platform from other mental health outlets, and provided sufferers with a digital experience that mirrored the intensity of OCD. In 2017, she led the redesign of the website, which took home a handful of awards including a Mediapost OMMA, Webby Honoree and Communicator Gold. In 2018, Anastasia designed MadeofMillions.com, as a digital meeting ground for the mental health community.
Instagram: @ak___nyc, @madeofmillions
Jana Reininger is a sociologist, journalist, photographer and co-founder of ZIMT magazine. She has won journalism awards for her work about mental health and social (in)equality. At the university of Vienna, she researches refugee housing and intersectionality.
Website: www.janareininger.com
Instagram: @janarngr, @zimtmagazin
aaron nora scherer is a social worker, s3x worker, body worker and multidisciplinary artist from germany currently living in vienna. aarons interactive, immersive and durational performance works create situations that allow them to explore social dynamics, contemporary forms of communication and intimacy. installation, sculpture and sound is the media that nora is focusing on in their current practice.
Website: noraaaronscherer.com
Instagram: @futuredaddyyy
Supported by
Exhibition
Vernissage: May 25, 7-10 PM
Exhibition: May 27 - June 24, Wed-Fr 3-7 PM
Improper Walls, Reindorfgasse 42, 1150 Vienna
Artists
Agrina Vllasaliu
Daniel Hill
Linda Bergstötter
Margrit Barner
Marko Marković
Merybell Nabilah Reynoso
Michael Robert Jimenez