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| Brochure Image |
Team Art and Design Staff were lucky enough to visit Dismaland earlier this month. Dismaland was created by Banksy and billed as 'the most disappointing new visitor attraction'. In an interview about the attraction Banksy said...
Why does the world need Dismaland? What inspired you to create it – and how did you find the site?
It’s an experiment in offering something less resolved than the average theme park. For some reason it’s been labelled as ‘twisted’ but I’ve never called it that. We just built a family attraction that acknowledges inequality and impending catastrophe. I would argue it’s theme parks which ignore these things that are the twisted ones.
The location was easy to find – I came here every summer for the first 17 years of my life.
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| Dismaland is located on the site of the Tropicana Lido in Weston-super-mare |
After queuing for what felt like ages to get inside (all part of the dismal experience) we were treated to a cardboard security entrance by artist Bill Barminski which came complete with deadpan and disinterested security guards.
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| Cardboard Security - Bill Barminski |
The first thing we saw as we entered the park is the Derelict Cinderella's Castle by Block9 which houses the Cinderella piece by Banksy.
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| Derelict Cinderella's Castle by Block9 inside which the Cinderella piece was displayed |
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| A Police Riot Van in Water Cannon Creek - Banksy |
Another large piece on display was a 30-foot equestrian sculpture made entirely from scaffolding components by Ben Long.
Ahead of the Dismaland exhibition Long made the following statement:
"If you compare Horse Scaffolding Sculpture to equestrian monuments of the past, what you see is something more skeletal, fragile and less permanent. In a way it could be read as a spectre of imperialism and the authoritarianism of a previous age. The bare bones of something that might once have seemed insurmountably grand."
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| Horse Scaffolding Sculpture - Ben Long |
On display were artworks from 58 global artists including Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer, Jimmy Cauty, Bill
Barminski, Caitlin Cherry, Polly Morgan, Josh Keyes, Mike Ross, David Shrigley,
Bäst, and Espo. Banksy is also showing 10 artworks of his own. There
were lots of different tents and galleries to explore
all displaying pieces by the various artists.
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| Work inside the Political Tent |
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| A Banksy piece depicting an Orca whale jumping out of a toilet |
Art work was everywhere you looked fly postered to the walls in amongst the fairground rides and stalls.
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| Art work displayed like fly posters around the park - Wasted Rita |
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| Art work displayed like fly posters around the park - Wasted Rita |
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| Paper cut piece about consumerism and food waste - Caroline McCarthy |
We saw work by the Lithuanian artist Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė who embroiders traditional floral patterns into metal functional objects. On display were an embroidered car and some embroidered irons.
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| Embroidered Car - Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė |
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| Embroidered Car - Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė |
We joined the queue to see the infamous Cinderella's Carriage piece, the room was pretty much pitch black only lit by the flashing of the paparazzi cameras which illuminated the artwork making it appear all the more eerie. This made it really hard to capture (see video below).
We all had a great time and are so glad we had the opportunity to visit such a fantastic exhibition featuring so many artist from around the world. Team art and design are definately inspired and ready for a new college year!
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| Banksy Piece |
