Steven Arnold
Directing
Biography
Steven F. Arnold (1943-1994) was an American artist and protégé of Salvador Dalí. He was a filmmaker, photographer, painter, illustrator, set and costume designer, and assemblage artist. Arnold was diagnosed with AIDS in 1988 at the height of his popularity and died in 1994.
Known For
An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by London Weekend Television, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a light hearted revue/tribute style.
An Audience with...
Anjelica Huston narrates this exploration of the spectacularly dreamlike world of Salvador Dali’s protégé, Steven Arnold, and his strikingly creative and influential body of work filled with occult rituals, Hollywood camp, and surrealist art nouveau whimsy. Taken from more than 70 hours of original and archival footage, including rare scenes of Holly Woodlawn, director Vishnu Dass digs deeply into the decadent countercultural and inspiring life of this unheralded multimedia artist of the queer community.
Steven Arnold: Heavenly Bodies
A series of erotic vignettes and sexual imagery (mostly of the gay variety) are presented courtesy of The Cockettes (a gay/drag performance art ensemble of late 60s/early 70s San Francisco).
Luminous Procuress
A journey of the psyche into the world of the unconscious. Made when Wiese and Arnold were students at the San Francisco Art Institute, the surrealistic film is influenced by Dalí, Buñuel and the German expressionists. The film was premiered at the St. Regis Hotel in New York by Salvador Dalí and invited to Director's Fortnight at Cannes.
Messages, Messages
Although best known for his photography, Steven Arnold also wrote, designed, and directed several groundbreaking visionary films, The Liberation of Mannique Mechanique being the first. Stuart Comer of the Tate Modern (London) said of Mannique: “a macabre, decadent work presenting mannequins and models that travel through strange universes toward possible self-discovery.” Brooklyn-based artist and writer Kate Wadkins in a recent online article observed: “Arnold’s films are dream-like visions of androgynous beings. Their narratives are modern-day fairy tales and reveries about gender — all through the lens of an acid trip.”
The Liberation of the Mannique Mechanique
Earth, air, fire and water personified. Made at the San Francisco Art Institute by Michael Wiese and Steven Arnold, their first collaboration. “THE ELEMENTS depicts personifications of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, in metaphor. The bodies of each blending in movement.” –Lenny Lipton, BERKELEY BARB
The Elements
Originally, it was to be a serious look at Westerner's influenced by Eastern trends. As it developed, however it became much more humorous with characters in yoga positions with high heels and smoking cigarettes at the same time.