Mentally, I am here

On Friday, December 5th at 8 PM, the international group exhibition Mentally, I am here will open, featuring works by Susanna Flock, Gabriel Hensche, Petra Mrša, and the collective Total Refusal (in collaboration with Gisela Carbajal Rodríguez and Felix Klee). The opening will be preceded by a conversation with the artists and the exhibition designer, Simon Stanislawski.

Opening: 5 December 2025, 8 PM

Artist talk: 5 December 2025, 7 PM

Exhibition design: Simon Stanislawski

The international group exhibition Mentally, I am here presents four video-installations that use digital environment and videogames to discuss the interconnectedness of technology and capitalism, the threat that climate change poses to our future, the influence of virtual worlds on the body and mental health, emotional aspects of gaming and online dating, and the possibilities of creative resistance in this digital day and age.

The work of art collective Total Refusal (AT), this time done in collaboration with Gisela Carbajal Rodríguez and Felix Klee, along with the works of Susanna Flock (AT), Gabriel Hensche (DE) and Rijeka-based artist Petra Mrša, detect the so-called system giants (capitalism, Internet, algorithm, corporations), in order to expose their effect on our wishes and behaviors. Yet, instead of approaching them from the position of critique, the artists combine them with personal stories, employing the glitch potential, how-to video format or somatic practices to show that even with all the contradictions, the age of digital capitalism can offer a room for imagining alternative ways, mutual support and learning.

Total Refusal’s new work, titled Apocalyptic Sublime (2025), was created within a modified version of one of the best-selling videogames – Grand Theft Auto V – and depicts the flooding of Los Santos City, the hyper-realistic virtual double of Los Angeles. The culture of rapid production and rapid consumption generates errors in both “natural” and digital codes. Although it may ultimately lead to catastrophe, the glitch offers a space for action and play, in which the rules are not predetermined.

In her work Unmatched Signals (work in progress) (2025), Sussana Flock combines the science-fiction imaginarium of video games with a narrative inspired by experiences of online dating, exploring how desire, vulnerability and algorithmic control unfold in digital interactions. Anecdotally recounting lines of content-ridden communication and predictable questions, the feeling of being ghosted or being stuck on a bad date, the work reveals how the paradox of choice and market logic infiltrate the sphere of intimate relationships.

The popular and screen-adapted video game The Last of Us serves as the basis for Petra Mrša’s experimental film I Can Save Her (2024). However, instead of being used directly, the video game is evoked in the film on multiple levels, shifting the focus onto the playing body. Through the choreography performed by the players, developed during somatic workshops addressing accumulated emotions, and through the voice that describes the steps of a mission in an almost factual manner, the work redirects the gaming experience from a multisensory and adrenaline-driven space to a realm of reflection.

Exercises for the Digital Age by Gabriel Hensche is a series of videos similar to YouTube/TikTok tutorials, which helps us survive and advance in the digital world. With an emphasis on collaborative process – and employing humor and the conventions of short online video genres – Hensche treats the digital space as a platform for exploration and exchange of ideas, which become tools for emotional and mental coping with the digital wilderness, but also for its proactive use.

Berlin-based artist and designer Simon Stanislawski is in charge for the exhibition design, which is created during his time as an artist-in-residence at Kamov. Stanislawski approaches the design in a playful and sculptural manner, but with a strong ecological awareness, highlighting the exhibition’s themes and participatory engagement through a series of workshops with students from the Rijeka Academy of Applied Arts and the Zagreb Faculty of Architecture.

6 December, 12 PM: Workshop “What is Happening with AI?” with Marek Tuszynski (Tactical Tech, Berlin)

7 December, 11 AM: Presentation of online exhibition Mentally, I am here. The online version invites the participants to explore the exhibition freely and in an interactive format. The curator of the online exhibition, Ashlee Conery, along with several artists, will be present during the virtual event.
The exhibition can be accessed from December 5th.
The online exhibition is supported by cubecommons.ca
Exhibition concept: Petra Mrša, Gabriel Hensche, Susanna Flock, Leonhard Müllner

Curator: Kora Girin

Curatorial collaborator: Ana Žarković

Graphic design: Ivan Klisurić

Museum education program: Ana Žarković, Ivana Golob Mihić, Petra Mrša, Gabriel Hensche

Technical set-up: Simon Stanislawski, Vanja Pužar, Anton Samaržija, Branimir Štivić, Dorian Ladašić

Thanks to: Ida Križaj Leko & DeltaLab, Ashlee Conery, Mike St-Jean, Toni Ažić, Stanko Baždarić, Juraj Makarun

Foto: Total Refusal, Apocalyptic Sublime, 2025.

The exhibition has been realized with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, the City of Rijeka, the Goethe-Institut Kroatien, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, and Das Land Steiermark.

Supported by Kamov residency programme and Ivan Klis Studio (ivanklis.studio)