BREXITLAND, 2019

Brexitland, 2019, is a large wall map of the divided United Kingdom obsessed with Brexit. Every inch of the map comes under its influence. The areas that voted Remain in the 2016 EU Referendum have been flooded by the sea. Almost all that remains are the districts that voted for Leave (above 50%).

Having commissioned the printing of a bespoke map showing the district boundaries used for the 2016 EU Referendum - for the next four months, I laboriously hand painted over it with watercolours. A considerable amount of editing and additions were made for the print.

Red is prominent in the areas that voted 60% or above for Leave. Boston had the highest Leave count of 75.6%, (three in four people).

The District boundaries are also painted in red adding to the sense of division.

Many of the place names of Brexitland have been altered with letters painted-out to reveal new words that directly reference Brexit itself, and others that evoke negative connotations brought on by it. Many of the ‘South’ names have had the ‘S’ and the ‘H’ removed to reveal ‘out’

Deal in Kent is now of course ‘No Deal’.

Like dilapidated signs, they also hint at the infamous 2017 Tory conference speech by Theresa May when the letter ‘F’ fell from the slogan behind her. Northumberland is now ‘No u e land’.

The flooding of the Remain areas has caused among others, the District of Chichester to become a cape jutting out into water, and a bluff in North Somerset.

The Districts that voted 60% or above for Remain have been completely engulfed by the sea. For example, Oxford voted 70.3% for Remain. The areas where the vote was closer to 50%, parts of the land are still visible (Some artistic license has been applied here to fit the image, but in general, this principle has been maintained).

Many of the place names in these Remain areas have not had letters removed but now reference their new diluvial positions – such as the ‘Cotswold Wetlands’.

and ‘Glasgow Caol’.

Exeter is now a lagoon. Aberdeen is now ‘Aberdam’, as it looks towards its European cousin.

& the great capital of old England is now just simply the “London Basin”.

Brexit puts the continuation of the UK as we know it into question, Scotland being a case in point. All its districts voted for Remain, and so most of Scotland has been obliterated from the map except for Moray in the north, where the vote for Remain was only 50.1%. It is now an archipelago.

In Scotland, such as Moray, areas with more landmass indicate a closer vote towards 50%. For example, the vote in the Shetland Islands was 56.5% for Remain, closer than in the Orkneys (63.2% for Remain). Therefor, the Orkneys have been completely flooded.

This is also the case with other strong Remain districts such as Stirling, Glasgow and Edinburgh that voted over 60% to Remain. Edinburgh is now the ‘Strait of Edinburg’.

Northern Ireland is also treated in its own particular way. It voted as a whole to Remain – 55.8%, but most of the eastern districts including East Belfast voted in majority to Leave. Interestingly all the Leave areas are not on the Irish Boarder.

The lack of consideration given to this important region by Brexit and its strategically shortsightedness is summed up here in its confusing geography and with the UK’s’ only land border with the EU on the island of Ireland.

The name ‘Northern Ireland’ can also by read as ‘North of Ireland’ – indicating the very sensitive issues that Brexit threatens to raise once again.

Wales has lost its north-western coastline of Gwynedd and Ceredigion, both of which voted for Remain. The western border of Powys now forms its coastline.

Cardiff, which voted 60% for Remain is now nothing more than a tideway. All the districts of Wales except Cardiff are named in Welsh, not English.

Summary:

The work takes on a quasi-scientific nature, mirroring the presentation of scientific rigor with the politically absurd, caused by the Brexit impasse.

Whilst being humorous in parts, Brexitland is steeped in division. It is also a comment on the stark realities brought about through a winner-takes-all style of voting. Whole swathes of the country are simply summed up by which side of the 50% divide their vote had fallen.

The ongoing political arbitration has caused a massive geographical shift away from the UK we all recognize, which is now undergoing a process of alteration and flux. Here, concept has caused the alteration of place. It follows on from recent works (altered and painted-over maps), interested in ideas about the breaking down of place and the dismantling of traditional institutions.

Having intensely followed the arguments and researched the subject and its statistics, I felt I had to make a work about it. Even though striking a balance between my own opinions and a more objective view would be difficult.

In the UK, Brexit is the huge cultural, political and philosophical issue of our time. It has split the country down the middle and the divide is as pronounced now as it was in 2016.

Shot of the original Brexitland painting on show at the Talking Maps exhibition at The Bodleian Library, Oxford. The Bodleian purchased it in 2019 for their map collection.