Stuart Nolan is an applied magician with a background in performance, cell biology, interactive media, experience design, programming, technology development, academic research, playful and performative facilitation, and education. His performance art practice combines traditional sleight-of-hand conjuring, psychological illusion, memory feats, hypnosis, performance poetry, sideshow tradition, abstract vaudeville, storytelling, and discrete uses of bespoke technology. 

Since a NESTA Fellowship in 2002, he has collaborated with others to apply techniques, tools, and insights from the arts of performance magic to a variety of other creative fields including installation art, architecture, visual design, game design, software design, media, sport, and performance arts.

Stuart Nolan and fellow resident Kieron Kirkland were supported by the Magician in Residence scheme, co-hosted by Watershed’s Pervasive Media Studio and The Bristol Interaction and Graphics Group in the Computer Science Department of the University of Bristol. Beginning on 1 Oct 2013 and lasting for two months, the residencies culminated in a public showcase event at Watershed in December.


Studio themes