In Brad We Trust

March 29, 2019

Promises I made to Brad Phillips:

1) I wouldn’t begin this piece by mentioning that, when I DMed him—he doesn’t have a phone and communicates using Instagram on an iPod—to suggest we do the interview while strolling around the Museum of Modern Art, his counterproposal was, “I need someone trustworthy to help me smoke this DMT I have.”

2) I wouldn’t spend too many words dwelling on the fact that, when we met for the first time a few days later, I ended up serving as his babysitter for a psychedelic trip in which he gracefully swan-dove into the abyss of his reality, and rolled around gasping for air in mine.

3) I wouldn’t, in general, make a big deal of the whole DMT thing. 4) I would show him a draft of this article before I sent it to my editors so that he could make sure he felt alright about it before it was published.

Interivew by Gideon Jacobs

Culture

Services Généraux's SISYPHE

February 26, 2026

Paris-based studio Services Généraux presents SISYPHE, an experimental short film developed as part of its annual personal project. Working across visual art, fashion, and music, the film examines repetition, control, and the search for meaning.

Inspired by the myth of Sisyphus and informed by Albert Camus’ interpretation, SISYPHE reframes the condemned figure not as punished, but as reflective of contemporary life, defined by cycles of effort and renewal. The narrative follows a structure influenced by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, tracing a progression from survival to self-actualisation, each stage briefly attained before collapsing back to the start.

At the centre of the work is a question of free will. The film approaches the idea of choosing one’s death not as defeat, but as an attempt to reclaim agency within an existence shaped by routine and constraint. Control becomes the core tension when endurance shifts from obligation to choice.

The score by Para One was composed in dialogue with the edit, creating a restrained sonic framework that mirrors the film’s rhythm. Costumes by Craig Green function as structural forms rather than decorative garments, reinforcing the body as a site of endurance and containment. Shot in Brittany, the film combines practical and digital techniques to construct an environment that resists a clear sense of time.

To mark its release, Services Généraux hosted a watch party in New York on February 17 at Public Records, as well as a screening on February 26 at Espace Commines in Paris.