Philosopher, literary and political theorist Armen Avanessian is a significant voice of contemporary speculative philosophy. At the nexus of art and philosophy, his body of works attempts to build new bridges between theory and practice. Armen speculates aesthetic experiences and the dissolution of artistic limits. Founder of the research platform Spekulative Poetik, Armen explores the relations between poetics and literary theory, while acknowledging the happiness that comes with writing books. After two weeks spent in Miami, Armen rethinks comradeship in the book Miamification, a journal intermingled with sidebar quotes. In a conversation for Extra Extra with his long-time friend Anja Aronowsky Cronberg, Armen wonders whether intimacy can be a valid alternative to love.