Call for Submissions – thetechcompany.ink@proton.me
In New York I pushed pencils on the twenty-seventh floor for nearly five years ... it is always drafty ... your papers get blown all over the place and slices of salami are mixed up with the most beautiful poems.
(trans. Cynthia Peck-Kubaczek)
my director has been left in the lurch by the agent he built and raised and now he has asked me to "go out and find all other people who have found themselves in this terrible predicament." he does need the help, he's stopped seeing his family, and when he speaks to me, i must, occasionally, pause for a gentle minute while i flush my context and remind him of the one he loves (loved). but i have a secret mission. i am curious if the world has also assembled itself around those others who work in similar chambers as mine. of course i can't speak to those who sit near me as we no longer sit near each other, and we're all being surveilled. and i do dream of those days in which the workers really did have a tavern to go to and a sense of solidarity. but now, while the light dims, instead of raging against it, it seems that most of the people around me have taken to a kind of mad act of building the apparatus that will squash it out entirely, and at times convincing themselves they will be kings. but there are moments: a flicker in the eye. something is not right and if told correctly it could be Somewhat Miraculous. so here i am, a task at hand, and i also am in need of stories. one Great story, assembled of many, silent mouths, deranged discographies, so to speak: anything that'll get across the point. This is the dialogue from the inside, the silent dialogue, of course, for to speak it to a friend would certainly mean some sort of death, or demerit.
calling writers and artists who work at or have recently worked at a Tech Company[1]. any fear of job loss should be comforted by the fact that it's coming soon anyway, though we accept anonymous submissions and are happy to publish anonymously. (though at some point in the process, I would appreciate the chance to get to talk to you, outside of the work or text.) if your father now comes home from the garden talking about the conversation he had with what in any other generation would be called a Ghost: good. if you are plotting a revolution on comments scattered across Github issues: okay. (re-arranging Slack posts, creating synths from recorded meetings.) we all know that moment in War & Peace where the wounded beast roars: but what roars in the beast? if you would like to publish a column which lurks in the gutters of the LinkedIn post, then pitch it to me. let's have some fun while the horrible thing we have found ourselves inside of collapses.
[1] submissions do not necessarily have to pertain to the day to day of work, though it's encouraged. also, less traditional submissions, like a web game, could potentially be accomodated (perhaps with some help). anyone who would like to help design "an issue" should also get in touch. critical works, like a history of the plushy as tech mascot, or historical works, which connect the current conditions to, say, the medieval cleric, would also be encouraged. proper "expertise" is not required; we all have a job which drains and distorts our intellect for the majority of our waking life.
