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When it shows you from the sky it just freaks you out," says Riminta. "Our house is on the news", says Nikas, "it's the only house that hasn't been burned so far." Osman, in reference to his homeland, offers the affectionate demarcation “Albion unhinged”. You may agree or disagree, but one thing is certain: England On Fire will change the way you see England, not for showing anything new, but for showing you what has been there all along.
I pay tribute to the professionalism and skill of our fire services, who are working in difficult conditions to protect lives and communities. We sat down with Stephen to talk about the idea behind England On Fire, what his research process looks like, the esoteric meaning behind the images and why this little old island is so drenched in folklore. SE: Because I’ve done this for so long, well ten years. Previously I was a musician for a while and managed to blag a career in that for a few years before it all ended disastrously. Then I got a job working in a bookshop, near where I lived. Via that I was in publishing, for distributors specialising in art and illustrated books. Thats where I got to know the world of art. One of the great things about art, as with many things in life, is the discovery of the new. Finding a picture or photograph that may have been thought lost to the ravages of time that stirs something inside, whether it a strange sense of dread or an uplifting rush of joy. SE: Definitely, yes. There were things that surprised me that we came across. It was serendipity with some of the images we found, many weren’t in display in galleries anywhere, so there’s nowhere else to see them. It was about looking beyond the obvious stuff people have been spoon fed and also to introduce new artists that people may not have been aware of.
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Then, when researching the images I realised there was something that hadn’t been done. There have been so many books in the last ten years about English art, but they’re all exactly the same. They all contain great artists, but there doesn’t seem to be anything that moves beyond that. The strand in English art and culture that I think is represented by the more subversive and radical elements, hasn’t been represented in any visual book other than those by individual artists.
SE: Yes. I do spend a slightly unhinged amount of time on the juxtaposition of things. Ages. Fortunately the designer Josse was fantastic. He got it instantly. There is a story element to England on Fire. It’s important the images go together. But not everything is about ‘greatness’. While art may tell a story, Ruskin is telling his story about art, and as with any story, the narrative unfolds according to who gets to do the telling. England On Fire: A Visual Journey Through Albion’s Psychic Landscape tells a different tale, or rather the same one through different voices. John Ruskin made the case for art as a language. Crafted visual images are more than frozen icons: they articulate an inner voice. Lines, space and perspective are its grammar, colour its syntax. From his perspective, it’s what you depict that counts: “It is not by the mode of representing and saying, but by what is represented and said, that the respective greatness of either the painter or the writer is to be finally determined.”
According to the Met Office, most of England is at "exceptional" risk of wildfires, aside from the South West and patches of the North. Fascinating, vibrant, and overwhelmingly powerful, this is a unique look at England in its magical and rebellious glory … A LoveReading Star book, England on Fire is truly beautiful, it’s astute, inclusive, and absolutely magical.” -Liz Robinson,LoveReading.co.uk
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