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  • superconductr Research

Capitalism doesn’t love me

How do you deal with rejection?

  1. Acknowledge your emotions
  2. View rejection as evidence you’re pushing the limits
  3. Treat yourself with compassion
  4. Refuse to let rejection define you
  5. Learn from rejection

(Adapted from inc.com)

Everybody has to deal with rejection sometimes. Your love interest might not reciprocate your feelings, your business idea might not secure the venture capital needed, your artist proposal might not be accepted by a funder. Being able to deal with adversity will make it easier to pick yourself up and rise to the next challenge. superconductr have had to face a few setbacks in the process of research. Being blocked by Amazon Mechanical Turk and having a Fiverr gig removed are two examples. superconductr have chosen to use these experiences as an opportunity to grow, to learn about treating yourself with compassion.

Emails containing messages of rejection can be difficult to deal with. Hard-edged letters stare at you from the screen telling you that you are not good enough, have not worked hard enough, have not understood the rules of the game properly. But what if these emails could be translated into something soft and soothing, something to help you pull yourself together and gather your forces for the next move?

These are two ASMR videos reading out rejection emails from Fiverr and Amazon Mechanical Turk. The videos have been custom-made for superconductr by sellers on Fiverr for a payment of US$ 5 each.

ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) videos are an internet subculture of videos that are intended to induce a spine-tingling sensation in the viewer, usually through sounds and performances that signify intimacy: whispers, quiet sounds such as skin friction and paper crumpling, or performances of personal care such as hair care or massage. ASMR videos are mostly created by enthusiasts who contribute to this subculture without expectation of financial gain.

ASMR videos could be seen as one aspect of a culture of self-care and healing which has grown in prominence as a necessary corollary of neoliberal economics, as a tonic to help soothe the wounds inflicted by neoliberal competition and its main affective disorder: anxiety. In this respect, ASMR videos are part of a wider trend which also includes yoga, wellness, Buddhism, meditation and mindfulness. In contrast to the latter, ASMR videos largely exist outside commodification; instead they are made by enthusiasts for enthusiasts.

News
26 Jun 2022

Toiling in the cloud factory

Online presentation

The Method of the Moment exhibition, 48h Neukölln
24 – 26 Jun 2022

The Method of the Moment

Group exhibition, curated by Manuela Johanna Covini for 48h Neukölln, Berlin

In person and online
17 Nov 2021

Disassembling the cloud factory

Online presentation

Swinburne University of Technology
20 Sep – 8 Oct 2021

superconductr: disassembling the cloud factory

Solo exhibition

London Gallery West, University of Westminster
13 Sep 2021

Art-work or artwork? Collaborating with labour rights activists

Conference presentation

International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy (IIPPE) 2021 Annual conference: The pandemic and the future of capitalism

online


17 – 21 May 2021

displacement-assemblage

Group exhibition

online
19 Feb 2020

Artistic interventions in digital platform labour

Symposium presentation

Digital activism

Royal Holloway, University of London


22 Sep 2019

superconductr: artistic interventions in digital platform labour

Conference presentation

14th ESA Conference: Europe and beyond: boundaries, barriers and belonging

Manchester


3 Jul 2019

Thirty laughs in search of a joke: towards a theory of auto-affective labour

Conference presentation

AFEP-IIPPE Conference: Envisioning the economy of the future, and the future of political economy

Lille


8 May 2019

Is that a sweatshop in your pocket: superconductr disassembles digital labour platforms

Article (peer reviewed)

PARSE Journal
7 May 2021

Is that a sweatshop in your pocket?

Lecture-performance

PARSE Journal launch: Work

Skogen, Göteborg


24 Mar 2019

Sweat, data and liquid assets: the working body on the digital assembly line

Article

Hyphen Journal
22 – 27 Mar 2019

Hyphen

Group exhibition

Ambika P3, London


5 Dec 2018

Workers leaving the cloud factory

Screening

Never (Off) Work!

Valand Academy, Göteborg


14 Sep 2018

superconductr: digital platform labour and neoliberal subjectivity

Conference presentation

IIPPE 2018 Annual Conference: The state of capitalism and the state of political economy

Juraj Dobrila University of Pula


21 Jun – 6 Jul 2017

Between Here and Then

Group exhibition

London Gallery West
Corporate Partners
Amazon Mechanical Turk Deliveroo Fiverr IWGB Microworkers TaskRabbit Uber Eats
Personal Development
anxiety ASMR atomisation dividualism embodiment entrepreneurialism self-care subjectivity
Social Impact
affective labour algorithmic management artificial intelligence click work immaterial labour liquidity materialism opacity outsourcing precarity social factory space
Creative Industries
delegated performance ethnography intervention materiality refusal representation solidarity
Contact

hello at superconductr.org