In this episode, we coin a new term for one of the most interesting creative impulses of our generation: #SWAG Dadaism. Like the original Dadaists responding to the whiplash of industrialization and WWI, a certain subset of young creatives are responding to the vertigo of global instability and breathless technological futurism through fashion assemblage, IP maximalism, and a fearless embrace of all things chopped and random. We conduct a historical survey from Clement Greenberg’s theory of kitsch and the avant-garde to the early days of meme culture to explore page fashion parodists of the past decade. We also get into Justin Bieber and Timothée Chalamet’s parallel #SWAG rebrands, the collapse of the secondhand market and its unexpected creative upside, and how #SWAG exists as the antithesis of refinement culture.
Links:
Dada Manifesto by Tristan Tzara (1918)
“Avant-Garde and Kitsch” by Clement Greenberg from The Partisan Review (1939)
“The First Meme of 2026 Is About Not Explaining Yourself. And Buttons.” by Madison Malone Kircher for The New York Times
Chase Rutherford on Instagram (referenced posts one, two, three)
Chase Rutherford interview for Perfectly Imperfect
@kalebphobic on TikTok re: digicore sampling
Canal Street Research Association and Shanzhai Lyric on Instagram
“Bags, Bootlegs and Art: A Quirky Communion on Canal Street” by Siddhartha Mitter in The New York Times
Ava Nirui / @avanope interview in Office magazine (2017)
“Meet Ava Nirui, The Creative Force Behind Marc Jacobs’ Heaven Line” by Eni Subair in Vogue (2020)
“Go To The Thrift Store That’s Where The Heat Is” on Know Your Meme
@harmonytividad “filet minion” post on Instagram
Middle school boy bar crawl on TikTok
Tung Tung Tung Sahur boxers outfit on TikTok
@twylatoktok on TikTok (referenced posts one, two, three)
