Biography:
Chase Menaker is an MA candidate in Cinema Studies at San Francisco State University. His research focuses on identity construction, neoliberal critique, and digital technologies, calling for further imbrication of the fields of queer theory and new media. While completing his Master’s thesis, Chase worked at a rapidly expanding media startup, directly confronting the tangible implications of his studies.
Abstract:
Descending the ivory tower into the heart of neoliberalism, Random Access Misery is a synthesis of personal experience and critical theory. In technical terms, random-access memory is hardware that stores the temporary data a computer is currently using. Once a machine is shut down the data dissipates. Composed of several short-form essays, Random Access Misery considers the personal effects of the erosion of historicity in the contemporary era, the collusion of identity politics and capital, and the disrupt and innovate ethos of Silicon Valley.
Disclaimer:
RAM is neither fiction nor non-fiction. It is a simulacrum of programmed memories with no original referent. Resemblance to any persons living, dead, or corrupt is merely coincidental and symptomatic of late capitalism.
