My overall practice is driven by my fascination with the illusory qualities inherent in cinema and early animation. Imagining myself as a cinema pioneer I explore the interplay between the moving and the still, creating works that sit between the pre-cinematic and the digital.
By discovering low-fi ways to add movement to single images and commonplace objects/materials, my intent is to ignite an element of wonder at the illusion of cinema, giving the everyday enough of a twist to allow the imagination to run free.
We live in a society where the material is being replaced by the immaterial. This has drawn me to use tangible everyday materials in my work that I juxtapose with the relative immateriality of video. Behind the scenes of my videos there are various hand-crafted mechanisms that drive them that are hand-operated/cranked.
In recent years I have made kinetic works for audience interaction that have been shown internationally including Turner Contemporary, Margate, U.K, 1shanthiroad, Bangalore, India and Basement 6, Shanghai, China.
Education
2010 Royal College of Art MA Photography
1998 Winchester School of Art BA Fine Art (1st Class Honours)
Selected Exhibitions
Solo
2020/21 Ananas and The Flatfish, PEER, London
2019 Javasu, featuring text works by Sarah Boulton, Caraboo Projects, Bristol
2016 The Drawing Center, New York (online)
2015 Pinjekan, Minories Gardens, Colchester
2014 Organism, iD TOWN, Shenzhen, China
2013 Ahmed and Carpenter Presents: Frogfullness, Rogue Project Space, Manchester
2013 Savinder Bual Flying Works, Little Victories Gallery, Shanghai
Group
2022 Whitstable Biennale 2022, Afterwardness
2021 Correspondence 01, Broadway Gallery Letchworth & Exeter Phoenix gallery
2019 The Wagon, Caraboo Projects at Standpoint, London, Artlicks Weekend 2019 Interdependence
2019 Desire Lines, Centre for Fine Print Research, University of the West of England, Bristol
2018 The Annotated Reader, (contributor), a touring exhibition and publication by Jonathan P Watts & Ryan Gander
2018 Visions in the Nunnery, Bow Arts, London
2018 Birds that Eat Purple Flowers, Legion Projects, Chapel on the Green, Glasbury, Wales
2018 Oriel Davies Open 2018, Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown, Wales, selectors Matthew Collings & Sasha Craddock
2016 Da Vinci Engineered: Renaissance Mechanics to Contemporary Art, Zeebedee's Yard, Hull City of Culture
2016 Here-There, 1Shanthiroad, Bangalore
2014 Out of Site, Peer & Animate Projects, London
2013 Follies of a Species, OV Gallery, Shanghai
2013 Absurdistan, OV Gallery, Shanghai
2012 Dawdle, Space Studios, London
2012 SWITCH/OVER, Wimbledon Space, Wimbledon School of Art, London, Curated by MA Curating Chelsea School of Art
2011/12 Bloomberg New Contemporaries, ICA, London, selectors Michael Raedecker, Sarah Jones and Pablo Bronstein
2011 Bloomberg New Contemporaries, Site Gallery, Sheffield
2011 The Woodmill Studio Artist Group Show, The Woodmill, London
2010 Smoke & Mirrors, School of Art & Art History, University of Oklahoma
2010 The Morouge Room, curated by Jotta Contemporary, The Hospital Club, London
2010 RE:animate, Oriel Davies Open, Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown, Wales, selectors Ceri Hand & Alex Boyd Jones
Screenings, Performances & Events
2023 Each Tiny Drop by Risham Syed with Kinetic Artworks by Savinder Bual, Opening Event, Manchester International Festival
2023 An Evening of Readings: Time, 'The Waiting Room' by Sarah Sze, Artangel, London
2023 'Water driven kinetic works for 'Each Tiny Drop' by Risham Syed, Manchester International Festival
2021 Fields of View, A screening to celebrate Al Rees’ posthumous book 'Fields of View', The Others, London
2020/21 Expanding Dialogues, with the Advanced Engineering Department, Brighton CCA
2020 Savinder Bual, www.xviix.com, online
2019 Alternative Frames, Cineinfinito #92, Barcelona
2018 The Pineapple Project, Colston Hall & PM Studio, Watershed, Bristol
2017 Real to Reel, Crafts Film Festival, Crafts Council & Crafts Magazine, Picture House Central, London
2017 Real to Reel, Crafts Film Festival, Crafts Council & Crafts Magazine, Cheongju Craft Biennale, Korea
2017 Distorting the Line: Globes, Maps and Movement, Queen's House, Royal Museums Greenwich
2016 Trompo, Monesterio de las concepcionistas, Festival de Artes Vivas, Loja, Ecuador
2016 Play Ground, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton
2016 Shaping in Between, Coopérative Ressources Urbaines, Prohelvetica & Embassy of Foreign Artists, Geneva
2016 Contact: A Festival of New Experimental Film and Video, Apiary Studios, London
2016 Moving Still, Rough Print Gallery, London
2015 Artist Film, The Forum Big Screen, Focal Point Gallery, Southend
2015 An Anthropomorphic Display, Borough Road Gallery, London
2015 Basement 6 Respawn, Basement 6, Shanghai
2014 Flying Works in response to Jeremy Deller's 'English Magic', Turner Contemporary, Margate
2014 Animation in Context: Screening & Discussion, CCA, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow
2014 The Residency, The Anatomy Museum, Kings College, London (Collaboration with Girolamo Marri)
2013 Go Around The Board Once More, Videotheque, Modern Edinburgh Film School, Talbot Rice Screen, Edinburgh
2011 Hal Silver Speaks, performance presented by The Woodmill at Aid & Abet, Cambridge
Residencies
2020 Isle of Sheppey, Whitstable Biennale / Cement Fields
2016 Observatory, Spud, Mottisfont Abbey, National Trust, rotating studios by Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios
2016 1Shanthiroad, Bangalore
2016 Engineer in Residence (Shortlisted), Victoria & Albert Museum, London
2015 firstsite, Colchester
2014 iD TOWN International Artist Residency Program, Shenzhen, China
2010 Escalator Retreat 6, Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge
Awards, Prizes and Commissions
2022 Nominated for the David and Yuko Art Foundation Grant by Ingrid Swenson & Andrew Wilson
2022 Arts Foundation Futures Award in Animation
2022 The Train Effect, Art & Heritage Commission, Didcot Railway Centre
2021 DYCP Grant, Arts Council England
2020 Jerwood Bursary
2020 Arts Council National Lottery Project Grant for 'Ananas and The Flatfish'
2020 an Artist Bursary
2018 Arts Council National Lottery Project Grant for 'The Pineapple Project'
2016 Artists' International Development Fund Grant, British Council & Arts Council England
2015 Grants for the Arts Award for ‘Pinjekan’, Arts Council England
2014/15 Associate Artist, firstsite, Colchester
Publications, Catalogues and Reviews
2022 The Elemental Pull of Whitstable Biennale, Frieze
2022 Whitstable Biennale: Afterwardness, Art Monthly
2022 9 Notes, by Savinder Bual, with text by Alex Hetherington, PEER Publications
2021 The Sonic imagery of Savinder Bual, Pix, India
2021 PEERing into the work of lockdown art, Hackney Citizen
2021 Savinder Bual: Ananas and the Flatfish, FAD Magazine
2019 The Prototype presented by Hannah Catherine Jones, BBC Radio 4
2018 The Pineapple Orchestra, music review, Bristol 24/7
2018 The Annotated Reader, published by Jonathan P Watts & Ryan Gander
2016 Contact: A Festival of New Experimental Film and Video, Catalogue, Apiary Studios, London
2016 What You See When You See: Lighting our Lives with Matchless Images, Bangalore Mirror
2015 Vision Magazine, China #148 & #149
2013 Follies of a Species, Catalogue, OV Gallery, Shanghai
2013 A Gallery on the Roll, Randian
2013 Little Victories Pop-Up Gallery, Smart Shanghai
2013 Absurdistan Illustrated Atlas, Catalogue, OV Gallery, Shanghai
2013 Absurdistan, Critic's Choice, Time Out, Shanghai
2013 Super Sad True Exhibition '' Absurdistan'', Blouin Art Info
2012 It's Nice That Issue #8
2011 Bloomberg New Contemporaries, ICA, London, The Independent
2011 Bloomberg New Contemporaries Catalogue
2011 Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2011, a-n Magazine
2010 RE:animate Catalogue, Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown, Wales
Talks
2021 Artist Talk, Ideas of Cinema, Expanding the Frame, Arts University Bournemouth
2021 Artist Talk, MA Photography, Royal College of Art, London
2021 Artist Talk, BA & MA Filmmaking, Manchester School of Art
2021 In Conversation with Amanprit Sandhu, PEER, London
2020 On Experimental Animation: Exploring Experimental Film, Talk & Screening Series, BEEF, Bristol
2019 Artist Talk and Workshop with East Bristol Contemporary, Bristol University
2019 Artist Talk and Workshop with East Bristol Contemporary, Arnolfini, Bristol
2018 Lunchtime Talk, Pineapples and Pre-cinema, PM Studio, Watershed, Bristol
2016 Artist Talk, Artes Plásticas y Diseño, Universidad Técnica Particular De Loja, Ecuador
2016 Artist Talk for Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath College of Arts Students, 1Shanthiroad, Bangalore
2016 Artist Talk and Workshop, Jaaga DNA, Bangalore
2015 Artist Talk in Relation to Time, Gravity Lecture Series, Sheffield Hallam University
2014 Panel Discussion with Tony White, Margeret Salmon and Karolina Glusiec, PEER, London
2014 Artist Talk, University of East London, MA Photography, Print Design, Fashion & Graphic Design
2014 Artist Talk, Shenzhen University, China as part of the ID TOWN International Residency Program
2013 Artist Talk, River South Art Center, Shanghai
2011 Artist Talk, University of Hertfordshire BA Honours Photography
2011 Artist Talk, Roaming Room, Room Artspace, London
2010 Artist Talk, Central Saint Martins BA Honours Fine Art (4D)
Recent Workshops
2022 Leisure and Play, Linking Art and Theory, BA Fine Fine Art and History of Art, Goldsmiths, London
2021 Transforming Energy and the Engine, with Engineer Simon Harvey, Brighton CCA
Lecturing
2022 Visiting Lecturer, BA Fine Art and History of Art, Goldsmiths, London
2016 Visiting Lecturer, Foundation Course, The Art Academy, London
2015 Visiting Lecturer, BA Fine Art, Sheffield Hallam University
2014 Visiting Lecturer, Photography, Royal College of Art
2012/13 Course Director, Academy of International Visual Arts, Shanghai