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.
Free Reed
Bristol Beacon 25th of September - 4th October
‘Free Reed' is an interactive sculptural installation made out of reclaimed construction pipes. These are activated by being blown into or hand-pumped, giving voice to the work.
The project highlights the importance of freedom of speech and deep listening, providing a space for contemplation and discussion.
‘Free Reed’ is inspired by Bristol Beacon’s fabric and history; the hidden inner workings of its pipework (silenced by sound traps, mufflers and dampers) and its unseen social history. In 1909 two Suffragettes hid in the halls’ pipe organ to interrupt a political speech with shouts of “Votes for Women!”. The pipes had spoken.
A 10-day programme of artworks, interventions and workshops invites us to address questions such as: Whose voices are amplified or silenced? Who really listens? Do we truly listen?
Opens Mon 25th Sep – Weds 4th Oct
https://bristolbeacon.org/whats-on/free-reed-exhibition/
Commissioned by Bristol Beacon
Supported using public funding by Arts Council England
Video from an ideas generating workshop with Bristol communities for 'Free Reed'.
The Pineapple Project
Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa, 15th to the 23rd of December, 2023
An Evening of Readings: Time Reading at Sarah Sze, The Waiting Room
Artangel, London, 8th of June, 2023
link to the live recording below:
New Water Driven Sound Sculptures for Each Tiny Drop, By Risham Syed
Manchester International Festival, 29th of June, 2023
https://factoryinternational.org/whats-on/risham-syed-each-tiny-drop/
9 Notes
Now available on PEER's website, 9 Notes is a publication that introduces some of the ideas and concerns that fuel my practice. The publication includes an essay by Alex Hetherington titled, The Student Of Hallucinations, The Absent, Moon And The Law Of The Feather.
Kindly supported by Arts Council England and PEER, London