For the past two months we have had the great pleasure of hosting two magicians in residence, Stuart Nolan and Kieron Kirkland. Based at Watershed's Pervasive Media Studio, they have been exploring creative ideas that blend technology, interactive design, magic and illusion. Kieron and Stuart here share some of the ideas that they have been developing in collaboration with the Bristol Interaction and Graphics Group at the University of Bristol.

At the heart of our Magician in Residence programme are questions around how the use of technology might change the culture of magic. Magic can be understood as a particular form of storytelling, of which narrative and performance are core elements. With many of the Studio residents involved in interactive storytelling, the Studio is a natural ground for fostering new collaborations. And, as Stuart believes: ‘If you think the trick is in the how, then you’ve been misdirected.’

Kieron’s Maker Magic project brings a touch of the open source mentality and maker culture to the notoriously secretive world of magic. He explains why his approach is so important to the future of magic:

'Firstly, magic secrets aren’t that secret anymore. Magic is facing the same issues with copyright and file sharing that any other industry is. If people want to find out how 95% of magic tricks are done, there are a thousand 8 year olds on YouTube who will share how any trick works. Often annoying well. To be honest there’s always been exposure of secrets, but the nature of modern technology means that it’s happening on a whole new scale. So we can either cling onto a shrinking pile of old secrets, or get inspiration from collaborations to develop new and progressive approaches to using existing ideas in magic, and to develop new ones.'

As part of his residency, Kieron instigated the world’s first Magic Hack last week. This brought together creative technologists and magicians to explore the magical and creative possibilities of technology. The Hack was a resounding success, and Kieron intends to develop and grow a community of Maker Magicians.

Stuart brought his fortune telling bird along with him on his residency. IdeoBird is a small latex bird that plays with Ideomotor Response and Common Coding Theory. In collaboration with the University of Bristol, Stuart has developed a way of measuring how good you are at using your Ideomotor Response. This research is now being channelled into the development of OuijaBird, a fortune-telling bird that can analyse your personality, and tell your future. Stuart explains:

'I've been researching birds as magical creatures as part of the development of the character of OuijaBird. Traditions of fortune-telling birds can be found up all over the world. Before we developed manned flight birds were strange and magical creatures. They would fly away out of sight to a place we could only imagine. And we imagined many wonderful things: heavens and palaces and mystical lands.'

We are very excited to see the final results of these innovative residencies, and all great showmen need an audience! Provided that Stuart and Kieron haven’t made each other disappear, you can feast your eyes and bend your mind round the results of the residencies at a public showcase event at Watershed on Wed 4 Dec.

Expect the unexpected to carry on well in to December with Film, Magic and Illusion, as our dabblings into the world of magic continue with films, events, showcases and further appearances from our curious magicians in residence.

Tickets for the Magic Showcase can be booked now - tickets includes a complimentary drink, a mince pie and a magical experience!

In the meantime you can keep up to date with the magicians via their blogs.

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