The notable British street artist Banksy has revealed his most recent masterpiece: an apocalyptic theme park called ‘Dismaland,’ in Weston-super-Mare, near Bristol.

BANKSY OPENS ‘DISMALAND’ THEME PARK

#dismaland #Banksy

A photo posted by Dismaland (@dismaland_park) on

The park is distinguished by its anti-consumerism, anti-establishment, and anti-corporate themes. Guests begin their ‘Dismaland’ journey by way of an NSA-like screening. “Any guns, grenades or unicorns on you today?” one of the faux security guards asked Krishnana Guru-Murthy who visited the theme park for Channel 4 News.

The theme park contains a dilapidated castle housed by a deceased princess, a merry-go-round that doubles as a slaughterhouse, and a pool where park guests can ferry refugees around in model boats, to name a few.

The staff is made up of disinterested stewards in Mickey Mouse-like ears and brightly colored vests that force out the phrase “Welcome to Dismaland. Enjoy,” while selling balloons labeled “I’m an imbecile.” Other features include fair games that are impossible to win, random live performances, interactive artworks, a few rides, and of course, the only way out is by way of a mandatory visit to the gift shop.

From the official brochure for the event:

“Are you looking for an alternative to the soulless sugar-coated banality of the average family day out? Or just somewhere cheaper. Then this is the place for you—a chaotic new world where you can escape from mindless escapism. Instead of a burger stall, we have a museum. In place of a gift shop we have a library, well, we have a gift shop as well.
“Bring the whole family to come and enjoy the latest addition to our chronic leisure surplus—a bemusement park. A theme park who’s big theme is: theme parks should have bigger themes…
“This event contains adult themes, distressing imagery, extended use of strobe lighting, smoke effects and swearing. The following items are strictly prohibited: knives, spraycans, illegal drugs, and lawyers from the Walt Disney corporation.”

Banksy himself is showing ten of his own pieces. The park also includes artwork by artists such as Bäst, Bill Barminski, Caitlin Cherry, Espo, Damien Hirst, Josh Keyes, Polly Morgan, Mike Ross and David Shrigley.

Banksy described the ‘bemusement park’ as “a festival of art, amusements and entry-level anarchism.” He further stated in a press release that “it’s not a swipe at Disney. I banned any imagery of Mickey Mouse from the site. It’s a showcase for the best line-up of artists I could imagine, apart from the two who turned me down.”

‘Dismaland’ opens on Friday to locals, and to the general public from Saturday until Sept. 27.

Elisabet Stenberg

Article by Elisabet Stenberg

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