England, 2023-Present

In the opening monologue of ‘The Last of England’ (Derek Jarman, 1987) the narrator says “We pull the curtains tight over the dawn and shiver by empty grates. The household gods have departed, no one remembers quite when… The oaks died this year. On every green field mourners stand and weep for the Last of England.” This is not an analysis of the England’s economics nor is it a criticism of capitalist growth and its consequences. The 2008 financial crisis, public austerity, Covid-19 pandemic, ongoing cost-of-living crisis, chronic NHS underfunding, increasing environmental concerns and the disaster of Brexit are at the forefront of the public’s mind, event’s which I have lived through and experienced first hand. These events have caused a slow but profound process of social and economic breakdown, the effects of which will reverberate through generations as the economic and social systems responsible for reproducing labour that creates value in capitalist societies are all collapsing. ‘England’ is a sustained examination of the blasted, surreal and vacant places landscapes of the fading frontier of a once great nation. The landscapes of England are typically British, clouded skies of murky grey hues, wind-swept shores, slow moving tides, faint sound of birds overhead. I visited these places as an outsider, alone in mind and body, a stranger in a strange place; experiencing the landscapes complicated past, solitary state, whilst anticipating its uncertain future. For the last 60 years, England has been experiencing a mythological unravelling, the mystery of its past and history being lost to perpetual need for growth, both literal and figurative. The England of the postwar period was one of economic prosperity, empowerment, hope and resilience; but in the years since has gradually devolved into a barren landscape of despair, desperation and anarchy, and I am faced by the reality that England is broken, and it may be too late. This is an account of England’s spiritual decay, but I fear the worst consequences are yet to come.