Dismaland

Yesterday was the big reveal of the Disneyland spoof - "Dismaland", a dystopian themepark full of work by over 50 artists lead by the notorious Banksy (if you don't know who he is, scroll to the bottom of this blog to get a crash course). Before going any further I highly recommend watching this video to get a little tour of the park by clicking:

here or here. 

Inside the castle is Cinderella's overturned carriage surrounded by paparazzi. A commentary on our fame-obsessed culture:

One of the things that I find most amusing are the impossible carnival games like: 

and how the theme park workers are reportedly rude and unhelpful. 

The craziest thing about this is how it was all kept so well under wraps until it's big reveal. While the 50+ artists worked on the theme park for a solid month, it was staged as a movie set up until yesterday. It's like Beyonce's secret album! Except completely different. 

So have I convinced you to go? Well that's too bad because their site to buy tickets isn't working. Possibly another joke on it's audience, possibly just programming failure. But if you DID want to go, you would have to head over to England. More details here. 

*So who is Banksy? Well, that's a good question. Given that Banksy is a pseudonym, and no one quite knows whether it is a man, a woman, or even up to seven artists, I can't give you the best answer. All we know is Banksy's style, which is characterized by stenciling, street art, satire and dark humor. Banksy's true identity remains unknown for many reasons, one of which is the obvious - graffiti is illegal. Banksy is anti-venture capitalism and against his work being sold, yet somehow this artist has an agent, and was able to create an entire theme park. It's all very mysterious. 

What are your thoughts on Banksy? On street art? On Dismaland? Are you amused or annoyed? Both? 
Leave a comment below!