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

Last Friday, we closed the group exhibition—Hast du Lust?, dedicated to the connection between mental health and sexuality. With topics like these, naturally, a 'trigger warning' disclaimer often appeared in the conversation.

Finding myself coming out of a three-day-long trip down a neural rabbit hole full of flashbacks and anxiety attacks, I have to say that, unlike our program, real life has no warning signs. No matter how much time has passed or how well one is doing the therapy work—a significant trigger moment can (and probably will) occur at some point. While handling such a profound disconnection from the present moment can be challenging to navigate, even more so if we don't have a chance to take a break from our daily responsibilities—I believe with the right approach—getting triggered can be a chance to finally process what is still buried within.

However, it is essential to be able to recognize the symptoms and find the way back to our current selves instead of getting lost in a flooded nervous system and its projections. This is the main reason we are doing these projects, after all—destigmatizing and informing—hopefully reaching further and further beyond our established audience with each year, to break from the pattern of niched projects being visited only by the people already sensitive toward the issues. In any case, we are immensely grateful to everyone involved, from all the applicants, the jury members, our partners ZIMT and Made of Millions, selected artists and, of course, the visitors—we hope to see you all soon!

In the meantime, enjoy another edition of Improper Dose! You can get a glimpse of the Hast du Lust?' public program, including a full recording of Artist Talk with Merybell Nabilah Reynoso, followed by a report from Úla Šveikauskaité's silent protest, Blood Catering, in front of the Konzerthaus. Pedro del Real unveils his creative process in the summer special of his comic series 'I run high on the New and I love the Old' and while there is no short story from Lina Piskernik today, her Plant Erotica series, illustrated by Andrea Scharf, grew enough to make a Zine! Click on the related link to find out more information on where to buy it and what you can be looking for, and if you still need a tip for next week's events—look no further than XX Art Flânerie!

See you in September!

IMPROPER DOSE NO. 22