Psycho Discourse

• scattered project, 2022

The textual interventions in the space of the hospital stem from a “chaotic researchbased practice,” as the artist describes it. The statements concern the broadly understood discourse on mental health, the criticism of capitalism and its impact on wellbeing. The concise, often ambiguous statements subjectively link debates held in the spaces of the Internet, academia and everyday life with private insight.

“I create from the perspective of user of pharmaceuticals, a mad queer crip, a neuroatypical trans girl (so far I have rejected the institutional and medical transition, I don’t want to give up power over my subjectivity, I prioritise the social and individual part of the process) who struggles with mental disorders manifested as states of depression, problems in interpersonal relationships, selfesteem and executive dysfunctions. After being expelled from university, I went to a psychotherapeutic centre where I spent six months, and at this point I am able to function fairly well”.

The translation and placement of the international, Englishlanguage discourse on anticapitalism and selfsabotage in a specific sociohistorical context shows how important – and difficult – it is to develop a language that will reject the existing prejudices and misunderstandings while remaining comprehensible. The catchphrase Psycho Discourse can be viewed as a proposal to develop such tools and manner of speaking, while revealing the dangers of using mental shortcuts and oversimplification of complex issues.