At 01:55, the population of a small island just south of the Icelandic mainland is awakened by a powerful earthquake. The volcano on Heimaey has not erupted for five thousand years. But on January 23, 1973, a powerful cascade of lava suddenly erupts a few hundred meters from the settlement.
Stories Concerning Heimaey takes the reader on an associative journey around the world and follows historical events and phenomena that relate to Heimaey in various ways. Fact and fiction are mixed, text is interspersed with landscape images and collages made with analog and digital retouching.
The book is built up of fragmentary and voyeuristic observations that take their starting point in an investigation into the man’s mysterious death, but the story takes on a new focus and diverges into winding whims and sidetracks.
It is a genre-crossing book that depicts a volcanic eruption and what happens when an entire community is forced to flee in the middle of the night. At the same time, it is a portrait of the artist and the artistic process.
Details
| Art and text | Erik Berglin |
| Languages | Swedish and English version |
| Pages | 124 |
| Size | 180 x 230 x 25 mm |
| Printing house | Livonia Print Ltd |
| Designed by | Markel Ahlenius |
| Reproduction | JK Morris |
| Publisher | Stubborn Books, 2024 |
| ISBN | 9789153111115 |
