Mariam Nihal
Saudi Gazette
If you’re the kind of person who feels jaded by the over-corporate blandness that passes for family light entertainment, then this is the bespoke leisure opportunity that will connect with your core brand dynamic.
It doesn’t so much ask the question, “What is the point in art now?” as ask, “What is the point in asking, ‘What is the point in art now?’”
Sorry to break it to you, but life is not a fairytale. And no one gets out alive. Now, Banksy may not have said those words, but lets just say he has given us something even greater.
If you haven’t heard about it yet, Banksy put together what looks like a massive art installation on 2.5 acres of land. Based on Disneyland, his dystopian version is a take on the overtly happy theme park.
But here is why this is so crucial. And not from an artistic viewpoint but one that encompasses humanity. Someone needs to burst the bubble.
If people today are still looking the other way and getting by with the theme of sponsored escapism, then maybe a trip down to Weston-super-Mare may be a dose your shrink can prescribe.
A dark yet eye-opening and hilarious depiction of our lives and fairytales wait for us at Dismaland. Banksy described it as a “family theme park unsuitable for small children” – and features ten new works by him.
He promises to show you “how it feels to be a real princess” with several installations including one of Cinderella passed out in an upturned pumpkin carriage crash, surrounded by a thousand paparazzi flashes as their subject hangs helplessly still, frozen in time.
Perhaps mocking modern-day social media habits? Or as many claim, it could be a reminder of Princess Diana’s death scene when no one stepped forward to aid the princess.
Since the photographers are wearing motorcycle helmets, the scene is reminder of when the paparazzi swarmed Princess Diana’s vehicle to take photos instead of providing any help or medical assistance.
Banksy is willing to take you on a journey beyond the Disney smiles. Through thought-provoking installations, he shows you how life is on the other side of the fairytale castle.
There is also a “pocket money loans” shop offering money to children at an interest rate of 5,000%. I guess you’d say it’s a theme park whose big theme is – theme parks should have bigger themes.
But Dismaland is not a subversive art installation. Banksy called it “a festival of art, amusements and entry-level anarchism. This is an art show for the 99% who’d rather be at Alton Towers.”
Banksy also adds a collection of popular yet far from mainstream art works and concerts. Works by 58 handpicked artists including Damien Hirst, Tammam Azzam, Suliman Mansourand Jenny Holzer have been installed across the theme park.
The art market certainly doesn’t encourage creativity. Like most markets it rewards being able to reliably deliver recognisable product on a regular basis.
Which isn’t necessarily a recipe for exciting art. I heard someone on the radio, it might even have been Richard Ashcroft, say: “It’s not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster.”
Which is why I’ve spent months making distorted fibreglass fairground sculptures to install in a dirty lido miles from anywhere.
Apparently, even the staff is quite grumpy and in character. And while this finally gives the grown-ups a theme park (why didn’t anyone think of this before?), no one but Banksy could have done it right. Art does many things; it can destroy you or rebuild you. Either way it will outlive you.
Location: Dismaland is situated on the seafront in legendary Weston-super-Mare and is easily accessible by train, bus and road. Marine Parade BS23 1BE
Buy: Tickets online at dismaland.co.uk.
The show will run until 27 September, for 36 days, with 4,000 tickets a day at £3 each
