SUPER SCUFFED SATURDAY SOCIAL SESSION AND SLEEP AID
03/28/20
by Brandon Alvendia
FIRST. Get a Twitch TV Account. Then follow TeamPrecariat.
tl;dr
Live-streaming online is a phenomenon developed by the early architects of the internet.
Its popularity soared, especially now, amongst gamers, due to increased bandwidth.
But Twitch is for everyone now, non-gamers and Luddites alike.
It’s exactly like Zoom but you are not around your coworkers at your job.
Prologue (tl;dr #2)
You’re feeling isolated, stressed, and burned out. Welcome to the alienation of capitalist realism, make yourself at home. We have been working on salves, palliatives, workarounds, subterfuges, and new ways of being with one another.. Let’s log in as one as we stay home to chat, game, joke, and kill time on the internet together like we used to in public. Saturday is still the weekend and we are entitled to a night of chit chat and goofing off, after all we’ve been through this week, but we’ll get through this together and not soon forget that we did.
Introducing the new artist-run platform and social club: Team Precariat. It debuts this Saturday with a 12-hour participatory live performance of the solo variety show SUPER SCUFFED SATURDAY SOCIAL SESSION AND SLEEP AID, so prepare to squad up with your loved ones and join the team!
***Team Precariat is proud to participate in the first Twitch Stream Aid 2020!***
The worlds of gaming, music, sports, and concept-driven social-practice durational performance experiments from around the globe are coming together on Twitch.tv to benefit the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO powered by the United Nations.
Saturday, March 28, 2020
NOON TO MIDNIGHT CST
Open hours by appointment and at random.
It’s simple as 00110001, 00110010, 00110011 (i.e. 1, 2, 3)
1: Navigate to Twitch.tv/teamprecariat or download free iOS or Android app.
2: Make an account on twitch if you want to type in chat, follow, subscribe and/or donate.
3: Browse around and say hi to the streamers and community! Try an emote!
PROTIPS: Subscribe to a channel for $5/mo (1 free with a linked Amazon Prime account) for perks and to remove pesky ads. Check out the channel’s info panels to learn more about the streamer’s aesthetic, interests, schedule, and other fun integrations such as surveys, raffles, charity donation links, and other ways to engage.
Not sure where to start? I noted some communities I’ve joined below, but your interests will vary. I recommend the following categories to browse: Just Chatting, Art, Music and Performing Arts, Food and Drink, Politics, Talk Shows and Podcasts, and whatever game you bought your child for their birthday.
Stage 1:
Personal Narrative (TMI)
The story starts about 10 years ago, shortly after I got my MFA at UIC. It seemed like a good decision at the time, but I found my newly-minted self unemployed for the summer. I procrastinated looking for work by sitting in the studio looking out the window with WCPT on all day, while my studio mate racked up shows with work from grad school. I’d start with Stephanie and Frangela in the morning and Ed Schulz (before he blackpilled and went over to Russia Today) at the end of the workday, other people’s workdays, but still. I’d follow up at home to watch Rachel and then Ed again on MSNBC (before they blackpilled into MSDNC.)
The workweeks of studio solitude, stasis, and stuckness were brightened nearly every single Friday on the Thom Hartmann Radio Show segment “Brunch with Bernie” which provided me gentle solace. Listening to (dramatically way more chill at the time) Bernie and Thom take callers of all persuasions cleared my mind from the logjam of professors’ voices still hectoring me in my sleep. I was still riding high on being within 100 feet or so from Barack Obama on that memorable night at Grant Park, so life didn’t seem as bleak as today. By the way, what was going on with the Black Eyed Peas holograms? Jeez CNN…
After the crash, and to this day, I have assembled a rotating orchestra of multiple part-time jobs to make my way. Teaching 6-12th grade at-risk students at an all-girl catholic high school, adjuncting for very-not-at-risk-at-all undergrads and grads at numerous prestigious art schools in Chicago and elsewhere, art handling at local museums and other financial institutions (where the team was obliged to use porcelain saucers for their morning, noon, and night coffee).
Thankfully, that was in my older young adult phase (30s), and I had the energy and ability to surmount metaphysical hangovers. On my off days and weekends I, with many other friends, put on art shows in (not my) apartments, abandoned storefronts that I helped clean out for a landlord to flip, and other places that we could trash up to the point of not getting deposits back. I adore the DIY/artist-run history and community in Chicago, as well as around the country. I’m lucky to have connected with and to keep up with collaborators regularly, sometimes deepening our relationship and doing shows or just smashing likes for people (I’m way less stingy these days).
Over the years the value of the art context’s meaning to me waned, establishment or otherwise. My implicit or explicit critique of it, and crab-bucket winner-take-all became more and more the norm. I crept closer to being fully jaded, watching those with good optics but atrocious ethics get ahead. I mean, I’m not an integrity purity fetish person, no dogma. But I can’t help but think, we are so atomized, and retreat to our circles, bubbles, and safe spaces.
It’s not been all-bad of course, you could fault me for not having gratitude for all the fortune I’ve had in my practice. All the friends, rivals, frivals, villains, mentors, students, everyone. Support from legendary spaces in Chicago and elsewhere, Hills, Roots, New Cap, threewalls, ACRE, ADDSDONNA, and others I can’t remember in my fuzzier and fuzzier memory. Also, I can’t thank enough from the bottom of my wallet for the support, with taxable income, from institutions great and small and/or my eBay buyers. That said, I thank the team at Co-Pro and their loyal army of supporters and creators.
Stage 3
Relevance
You’re probably thinking, “when is is he going to talk about the ‘rona?”
OK OK. Right now, as we speak, I am un/self-employed, for reasons not my own and some totally my own (I’m 42! Going on 21.) #feelsbad. Don’t worry, I come from an immigrant family that was once homeless so I know how to save, wash used paper-plates, and eat expired food and whatnot, if it comes to that. After a lot of free time reflecting and CBT-ing some self-acceptance, I have committed to sitting in the studio and working on MY stuff for me.
So everything was coming along pretty nicely at the start of 2020, progress you’ll see as soon as studio visits can happen again (needs to be IRL). Some new alternative platforms were in the works, namely an art fashion label (all price points), an immersive anti-colonial anti-imperialist tiki retail speakeasy installation, daily phone paintings, banging-techno in the DJAX/TRAX vein, and some other small (commerce is not necessarily late-capitalism) projects here and there (Vibrant City Grind 8bit MMO art RPG with a 5-year dev plan).
And of course the reason we’re here: The launch of the art and labor new media web project, TEAM PRECARIAT, at the center of which is the live-stream project Twitch.tv/teamprecariat, and everyone is invited to be part of the team. The channel (and some of these other endeavors) was slated to surprise drop the weekend leading up to April 20, 2020. But alas, here we are…
The urgency of the moment compels us, so without further ado.
But right quick before the reveal and to loop back to the beginning: I am a Gamer, I lapsed almost the whole time mentioned above, until about 18 months ago. I suppose I’d been unsuccessfully trying to either game the art world or at least gamify my participation in it. #gameover. I got back into gaming casually on my phone and it escalated from there. The thing is, for some odd reason, I discovered gaming and streaming communities have become an enclave for online leftists, old and young, a small cadre of contemporary artists who you’d expect, and outcasts from around the world. It feels like an endless hangout, where everyone shares and tells stories of living isolated in red states, or in Brooklyn or wherever, music, politics, depression, a lot of depression talk, and camaraderie/emotional support.
The eSports gamer of the year 2019 SonicFox came out as non-binary while winning the Dragonball Z championship, Heather Alexandra came out as trans during their post at Kotaku (part of Gawker) and is a leading critical game reviewer. I was indoctrinated and quietly joined the dirtbag left through the ChapoTrapHouse eSports team FYM, who were first to drop intel on SHADOW Inc. and Acronym among other hivemind research strategies. #sorrynotsorry #WhatAboutHisBros. Also, Hasan Piker’s optimism thirst (TYT Cenk’s nephew, I know I know…) is grabbing five figure views on debate reactions and random games of the moment, frequently thriller jumpscare games when not calling sparring partners straw men, or yelling at his audience to wake the fuck up (F in chat for Fish RIP). Not my thing, but you could cruise over to Sasha Gray’s channel where she plays Goose Game, if that’s your jam (everything on Twitch is SFW, lol, ToS). Or even engage the enemy Libertarian Millennial dandy Bastiat, or the so-far-left-maybe-right political commentator and WoW enthusiast Destiny, most notorious debater online. If you want more straight up radio station or podcast style there’s Majority Report, TrueAnon, Central Committee, JackAM, and for niche streams Murda urban street drag racing and social media corporate superstar Wendy’s, and US/Finnish hacker collective Videokaffe. Oh yea, Senator Bernie Sanders has streamed a zillion times on Twitch, very well recorded, rallies that live streamed over the run of the campaign and are saved for the month (but at least one Biden handler tossed a thumbs up emoji at the D-Nice quarantine insta live dance party after going missing for a few days, smh). Help out by following smaller communities!
I know you are confused about how to do gaming and streaming. Don’t be shy, it’s somewhere between a clubhouse, basement LAN raid party, amateur debate panels, underground house show, crazy fanatics of all stripes, Mystery Science Theater 3000 except with memes and youtube, as well as old internet standards such as a live stream of a jar of peanut butter and Chill Music Stream to Study To bot action. If you are a cringe aficionado, then check out ASMR at your own risk.
Keep it on in the background like a fireplace and speak up in a channel’s chat room from time to time. Have other windows open and phone and tablet and TV as well. The gaming element puts some people off, but in a lot of ways it’s just an excuse, but it’s also a history of visual culture and innovation, just now getting politicized (Disco Elysium award acceptance speech). I got back into it to hang out with friends I haven’t talked to in ages (who got back into it to bond with their young children). It is the True American (and South Korean) Pastime. Can’t cancel NBA 2k20.
In the throwaway culture of rapid consumption on insta/fb/twitter scroll where you see an image for under a second and envy-like posts, streamers grind upwards of 10 hours of sustained content and conversation all times of day and night, where you can talk to the streamer directly in real time. The tech setup has a moderately steep but fun learning curve, though you can stream from any device. Which brings me to why this is so compelling and addicting to me as a Temporary Autonomous Zone. Twitch allows for connection, and an In Real Time Immediacy most online media closes off, save fb comment FlameWars (someone is typing…). Over-the-air call-in radio still makes TAZs really successfully IMO, with just a lot more system setup and power.
I know Twitch is owned by Amazon, and Mixer by Microsoft and that fucking sucks, but a small gem of a group of people are hidden in these new alternative spaces making new possibilities and trying to move the needle amidst the sea of cynical/influencer/apolitical/thirsty-for-likes types, all for free and/or #suggested donation. I never thought in a million years, this would be where I pivoted mid-career to find myself gettin got in the dome from 100 meters in a competitive FPS by a 14-year-old while radicalizing the same 14-year-old to leftist art politics. #selfcare.
Ironic that a channel called Team Precariat would be hosted on Amazon property. #occupyTwitch? More interestingly, I founded art spaces to offer a reason and context to be together and stave off loneliness. Since we’re going to live out our social lives exclusively online a while, we should learn to enjoy one another as disembodied images, sounds, and text. The grain of the voice prevails.
Thanks for joining me down the rabbit hole of social intimacy online while physical distancing outside.
xo Brandon
FAQ:
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is the video game industry bigger than Hollywood?
2. How old is the average gamer?
The average age of a gamer is now 35, with almost 75% of all gamers being 18 years or older.
3. Are video games profitable?
4. What percent of gamers are female?
5. How many gamers are there in the world?
6. I hear about “crunch” in the industry and labor violations, is that true?
7. What about eSports? Are gamers considered athletes?
8. Are video games addictive?
It is true that a baby girl starved to death while her parents raised a virtual child in an online game. Gaming addiction is recognized by the National Institute of Health and trials have been conducted on the efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on the afflicted.
9. Will it turn my child into a lazy unemployed slob?
10. Do violent video games contribute to violence in society?
Welcome to an indeterminate itinerant undisclosed location!
TEAM PRECARIAT: An Amateur Dada Variety Livestream Vanity Hobby Project and Humorous Self-Compassion Experiment.
100% all natural organic-certified absurdity. Now with 12% less Jank!
Good Guests, Good Ghosts, Good Glam, Good Garbage, Good Gesamkunstwerk, Good Giving-Back, Good GitGuding, and of course, GGs. d0g5h!te K/D ratio.
Your #4,550,998 source for satire, parody, criticism, social commentary, review, boredom, and occasional intelligibility. Mainstream and deep cut games from across all platforms and throughout history. Guests from all over the internet (do you want to be a guest?)
Shows getting cooked up or whatever chat wants to do: Krugman Plays Solitaire and explains his book Spatial Economics while Chomsky debates Foucault behind a pitcher of orange juice, Canned Sardine and Potted Meat from Asia mukbang taste tests, Fair-Trade Nut-Allergy-Free Sunflower Butter vanitas, UBUWEB reaction streams, GeoGuesser for Independent Curators and Other Fabulous Glamorous Jetsetters, Computer Chess and Hard Banging Techno and/or John Cage, Everything You Wanted To Know About Gaming and Twitch But Afraid to Ask Your Students and/or Children, Low Technology Unboxing Videos, ASMR cringe, Glenn O’Brien’s TV Party Internet Watch Party, Bad at eSports Competitive FN Shadow Hype Night Solos Spring Training, problematic meme criticism, Holy Grail Hunting, Livestream Party Crashing, and chatting around a looping video campfire. Also probably some fine art if you really need that for some reason.
Open Hours: by appointment or randomly throughout the week, check socials for special events and guest appearances.
You're just in time; we're just getting started.
Team Precariat is currently being administered by your friendly volunteer Midwest Chapter Representative Brandon (aka @alvendia1, user4550998, Brandonius, BartlebyTheStreamer, DiscoMickey, cr0c0diletear5, and other rashly decided usernames). Proud card-carrying dues-paying member of CDSA, CFAC, Local 6602, IFT-AFT/AFL-CIO, Int’l Assoc of Art Workers Club, and former GameStop PowerUp rewards member. Not-so-proud fluency in International Art English. He is currently 11 and 0 in Rock, Paper, Scissors. Took third with Team Photon Skulls (headed by the All-Star veteran player PseudoFaux) in the 2012 World Telekinesis Championship held in Philadelphia, PA. Gen X 4 LYFE.
Don’t be shy, connect with us, join the team and get that thirst!
No sweaties, tryhards, and/or griefers.
GGs only. Let's Go!
Disclaimer: No refunds, no warranty.
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TEAM PRECARIAT
RELEASE NOTES
BETA .01
Account created Oct 2018
First streams Oct 2019
Civilization, retro text adventures, meme responses, just chatting, idle streams
Username changes thrice to current
BETA .10.1
Jan 2020
Wipe content for relaunch
Twitch info blocks edited - info/gear/cage/duchamp
discord up with a few channels
added memes to meme holding area server
Lvl up to contender league arena solos FN
OBS scenes created - brb , yt, yt w facecam, multi channel audio
JRPG dating sim, Chess, Just chatting, djing
Facecam mounted
Two display setup achieved – iPad. Splashtop
Paid designer for Warhol emote.
Waiting on New Museum installation room to be built out - NOT KIDDING.
Brandon Alvendia is the Quarantine Times Saturday editor. Each week, Brandon selects a Chicago artist to share a commissioned creative response to the pandemic.
Brandon Alvendia is a Chicago-based artist, independent curator, and educator. His interdisciplinary practice engages spatial and social architectures by creating platforms for experimentation, discussion and collaboration. He is the founder of multiple Chicago alternative spaces artLedge (2004-2007 w/ Caleb Lyons), BEN RUSSELL (2009-2011 w/Ben Russell), The Storefront (2010-2014), and art-publishing house Silver Galleon Press (2008-present). Brandon attended The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA ‘03) and University of Illinois at Chicago (MFA ‘07). Currently on a DIY sabbatical until Fall 2020 (classes didn’t run) from SAIC and Columbia College, where he teaches Foundations, New Genres, and Professional Practices (whatever any of that means to parents.)
