What is Cringe=Sublime if not the sacred meeting the profane?I have been following Ruba Al-Sweel, a writer, curator, and artist, for a while and always felt a sort of idiosyncratic kinship with her work – perhaps even idea-syncratic. Whether it was a text snippet of shared sentiments on her stories or a short documentary about TikTok fortunetellers, Ruba’s work and ideas propose a world I feel I can relate to. On the last day of summer, I finally had the pleasure of speaking with her. We chat about: face power; camera as an archangel; Lana’s choice and the crocodile man; big thinkers and men gossip; All Fours by Miranda July; lip tints; iconoclasm; text as the ultimate image; and stretching the band-aid on your camera phone.More at:

Ruba Al-Sweel Instagram + SubstackElizaveta Federmesser Instagram

BAGMAG Instagram

Get a copy of BAGMAG

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit federmess.substack.com