Sanctuary
Exhibition + Film
2024
16mm to digital, 24 mins
Sanctuary explores queer spirituality and utopian sexualities through the figure of Purusha Androgyne Larkin (1934–1988), a monk, pioneering gay filmmaker, and self-proclaimed cosmic-erotic mystic. Larkin’s 1981 book, The Divine Androgyne, challenged repression with a spiritual vision rooted in eroticism and presented a radical path to cosmic-erotic consciousness through ‘extreme’ forms of sexual pleasure. Sanctuary explores Larkin's attempt to form a utopian, pleasure-based spiritual community, and considers the complex legacies of his ideas in queer culture. Shot on 16mm, the film weaves together the voices of Larkin’s friends and followers, creating a portrait in absentia of a figure ahead of his time.
Originally shown as part of
Sam Ashby: Sanctuary
San Mei Gallery, London
27 September – 16 November 2024
San Mei Gallery︎︎︎
e-flux Review︎︎︎
Camera: Sam Ashby & Mariah Garnett
Editor: Pablo Mazzolo
Sound: Joe Campbell
Music: Leslie Deere
Grade: William Glass
Featuring: Ron Athey, Guy Baldwin, Ganymede Cupbearer, Revé Douglas, Jack Fritscher, Hunter Hargraves, Mark Hemry, Rob Hopcke, Guy Seiler
Commissioned by San Mei Gallery, with support from Arts Council England and the Arts & Humanities Research Council
Sanctuary explores queer spirituality and utopian sexualities through the figure of Purusha Androgyne Larkin (1934–1988), a monk, pioneering gay filmmaker, and self-proclaimed cosmic-erotic mystic. Larkin’s 1981 book, The Divine Androgyne, challenged repression with a spiritual vision rooted in eroticism and presented a radical path to cosmic-erotic consciousness through ‘extreme’ forms of sexual pleasure. Sanctuary explores Larkin's attempt to form a utopian, pleasure-based spiritual community, and considers the complex legacies of his ideas in queer culture. Shot on 16mm, the film weaves together the voices of Larkin’s friends and followers, creating a portrait in absentia of a figure ahead of his time.
Originally shown as part of
Sam Ashby: Sanctuary
San Mei Gallery, London
27 September – 16 November 2024
San Mei Gallery︎︎︎
e-flux Review︎︎︎
Camera: Sam Ashby & Mariah Garnett
Editor: Pablo Mazzolo
Sound: Joe Campbell
Music: Leslie Deere
Grade: William Glass
Featuring: Ron Athey, Guy Baldwin, Ganymede Cupbearer, Revé Douglas, Jack Fritscher, Hunter Hargraves, Mark Hemry, Rob Hopcke, Guy Seiler
Commissioned by San Mei Gallery, with support from Arts Council England and the Arts & Humanities Research Council
La licorne
Film
2022
Digital video, 16 mins
La licorne (The Unicorn) is a short documentary exploring the life and career of French striptease artist and actress Rita Renoir, and her relationship to Île du Levant, a naturist island in the South of France.
The film weaves various archival elements including interviews with Rita, her performances, and material relating to the history of the island, to build a tender and complex portrait of a underrecognised feminist icon and a unique naturist utopia.
︎ to request viewing link
Narrated by Agnès Thiollier
Made in collaboration with Joseph Savage, Paul Bacharach, Marco Novoa, and Adrien Pelletier
Commissioned by Villa Noailles (France) and supported by Elephant Trust (UK)
La licorne (The Unicorn) is a short documentary exploring the life and career of French striptease artist and actress Rita Renoir, and her relationship to Île du Levant, a naturist island in the South of France.
The film weaves various archival elements including interviews with Rita, her performances, and material relating to the history of the island, to build a tender and complex portrait of a underrecognised feminist icon and a unique naturist utopia.
︎ to request viewing link
Narrated by Agnès Thiollier
Made in collaboration with Joseph Savage, Paul Bacharach, Marco Novoa, and Adrien Pelletier
Commissioned by Villa Noailles (France) and supported by Elephant Trust (UK)
Et in Arcadia Ego
Film
2018
Super 8, digital transfer, 6 mins
Et in Arcadia Ego observes old, now-defunct public toilets that acted as cruising spots in London. Shot on 8mm to emphasise its plaintive quality, it is an elegy for these lost queer spaces and a pilgrimage to their ruins.
︎ to request viewing link
Camera, Editor – Sam Ashby
Music – Jordan Hunt
Sound – Joseph Campbell
Colourist – Chloe Thorne
Commissioned by London Short Film Festival with support from Arts Council England
Premiere: London Short Film Festival
Screenings: Queer Lisboa
Et in Arcadia Ego observes old, now-defunct public toilets that acted as cruising spots in London. Shot on 8mm to emphasise its plaintive quality, it is an elegy for these lost queer spaces and a pilgrimage to their ruins.
︎ to request viewing link
Camera, Editor – Sam Ashby
Music – Jordan Hunt
Sound – Joseph Campbell
Colourist – Chloe Thorne
Commissioned by London Short Film Festival with support from Arts Council England
Premiere: London Short Film Festival
Screenings: Queer Lisboa
The Colour of His Hair
Film
2017
16mm, digital transfer, 23 mins
Based on an unrealized film script written in 1964 for The Homosexual Law Reform Society, a British organisation that campaigned for the decriminalization of homosexual relations between men, The Colour Of His Hair merges drama and documentary into a meditation on queer life before and after the partial legalization of homosexuality in 1967.
Video Link︎︎
Interview︎︎
Cast:
Sean Hart
Josh O’Connor
Crew:
Camera – Jessica Sarah Rinland
Editor – Alexandros Pissourios
Lighting – Oscar Oldershaw
Sound – Joe Campbell
Music – Leslie Deere
Colourist – Chloe Thorne
Camera Assistant – Ada Wesolowska
Hair & Makeup – Renee Vaughan Sutherland
Premiere: International Film Festival Rotterdam 2017
Winner: Best Documentary, London Short Film Festival 2018
Supported by BFI and Wellcome Trust
Based on an unrealized film script written in 1964 for The Homosexual Law Reform Society, a British organisation that campaigned for the decriminalization of homosexual relations between men, The Colour Of His Hair merges drama and documentary into a meditation on queer life before and after the partial legalization of homosexuality in 1967.
Video Link︎︎
Interview︎︎
Cast:
Sean Hart
Josh O’Connor
Crew:
Camera – Jessica Sarah Rinland
Editor – Alexandros Pissourios
Lighting – Oscar Oldershaw
Sound – Joe Campbell
Music – Leslie Deere
Colourist – Chloe Thorne
Camera Assistant – Ada Wesolowska
Hair & Makeup – Renee Vaughan Sutherland
Premiere: International Film Festival Rotterdam 2017
Winner: Best Documentary, London Short Film Festival 2018
Supported by BFI and Wellcome Trust
L’amour bleu
Film
2013
Digital video, 2 mins
I was invited by R. Justin Hunt and Alexander Karotsch to curate a special edition of their queer literary salon, Naked Boys Reading. My event celebrated the work of British filmmaker Derek Jarman with readings from his diaries, books, and scripts. To promote the event, Tom Smith and I made this short film, starring my readers, in the spirit of Jarman.
Video Link︎︎
Directed by Sam Ashby and Tom Smith
Starring:
Rowland Byass
Brian Mullin
Will Yates
Zia Álmos Joshua X
I was invited by R. Justin Hunt and Alexander Karotsch to curate a special edition of their queer literary salon, Naked Boys Reading. My event celebrated the work of British filmmaker Derek Jarman with readings from his diaries, books, and scripts. To promote the event, Tom Smith and I made this short film, starring my readers, in the spirit of Jarman.
Video Link︎︎
Directed by Sam Ashby and Tom Smith
Starring:
Rowland Byass
Brian Mullin
Will Yates
Zia Álmos Joshua X