IMPROPER DOSE NO. 11

©Ale Zapata

Finally, daylight saving time!
(just kidding)

-by Barbora Horská (Curator / Editor-in-chief of Improper Dose)

Yes, once again, we messed up our natural biorhythms to preserve the over 100-year-old attempt to make war cheaper; by losing an hour of sleep. Brilliant. 

So, first, we excluded ourselves from the symbiotic wholeness of Earth’s ecosystem. Then, we created the monetary system; another tool for excluding each other from the new system. Then, we tried to make killing each other over that system cost less by saying it’s 7AM instead of 6AM. 

I mean…truly, human kind deserves its place at the top of the food chain. 

Now jokes aside, how is one not supposed to have a general problem with respecting self-proclaimed authorities when this is just the tip of the iceberg of all the nonsense the authority stems from? Serious question, please DM me for answers if you have some.

But let’s get back to the positive, because spring seems to be here for real now! 

With all of the recent snow and minus temperatures it truly didn’t look it, but people experiencing periods (or anyone with basic knowledge of biology, really) know that every new cycle begins with purging of the old. The dead tissue, or in this case, the winter. 

I tried to remind myself of this fact when sun and warmth seemed as far away as gender equality in Lithuania - yet another place where the government opposed the ratification of the Istanbul Convention in the beginning of March. Strange way to celebrate women’s history month, if you ask me. 

By doing so they joined, among several other states, my home country Slovakia - the land where, even during a pandemic and ongoing government crisis, the parliament always finds the time to vote on human rights restriction. Their last proposed gender reassignment surgery ban and removal of parenting rights of LGBTQI+ people didn’t pass only by a few votes. What was true only ten days ago can change swiftly with the breakdown of the coalition; allowing threatening laws like this more likely to get through in the near future.

Unfortunately, naming attempts to preserve the patriarchy would take forever. It is a well-known truth that internal and externalized misogyny alike harms the well being of everyone, regardless of gender. 

So what can we do? Broad question means many answers, but the point is that there is always something. 

To get some inspiration you can read the March edition of Justina Špeirokaité’s column on Human Rights and Art. This time from Lithuania, including interviews with contemporary dance performer Agnieté Lisičkinaité and members of Apeiron Theater Eglé Kazickaité and Greta Gudelyté. 

Continue with our external contributors section consisting of Andrea Z Scharf’s radical spring art, part 2 of Lina Piskernik’s sometimes erotic series on human-plant relationships, and Pedro del Real’s comics exploring the internet’s middle ages. 

For better insight into the Viennese art scene, see the new open call in collaboration with Question Me and Answer and interview with Artcade podcast.

Treat yourself well and do what you can (even if it means just staying sane for a day in this madness).

See you next month! 
(When more people than usual will pretend to care about the environment by refusing plastic straws – also known as April)