Compartment Syndrome is a medical term for an increase in pressure inside a muscle, which restricts blood flow and causes pain. This series was photographed in a small village on the Kent coast, covering the run-up to, and the aftermath of, the vote to leave the EU.

It is an examination of the elusive characteristics of Englishness, a representation of the divisions and striations that resulted from the EU referendum, and a meditation on how the village represents both freedom and restriction, situated as both an end-of-the-line destination and a frontier.

“We wanted to create a work that represented the fractured and hypertense debates that the vote to leave the EU fostered,” says Studio Sutherl&. “The purpose of the book and poster was to disrupt the idea of a single fixed narrative, to resist the absolutes of single readings in any artwork.

“The English are the product of many disparate ingredients, both racially and culturally. A fixed form would have been limiting, so the idea of producing a loose-leaf format reflects the subject matter in form as well as content.

“Typography is super-condensed and expanded to reflect the idea of compression. We collated bold typographic pairings with images, artist notes, an essay and a folded poster to create a small, tightly bound object. The binding red elastic bands compress the loose-leaf sheets together while forming the Saint George’s Cross. Ultra Black Condensed typography was used for the title, set to form the flag. The overlap highlights the word ‘art’, reflecting the nature of the work in the publication.”

Credits:
Design Studio: Studio Sutherl&
Creative Director: Jim Sutherland
Designers: Rosey Trickett, Ethan Brown
Photographer: Aidan McCarthy
Production Company: WithPrint