Disneyland is awesome, but rainbows and sunshine in the happiest place in the world isn’t exactly for everyone. If you’re one of those, maybe you’ll feel more welcome at Dismaland, a pop-up art exhibit cast in the form of an apocalyptic theme park.
Created by famed British artist Banksy, it’s a satirical take on Disney’s cheerful theme park, with rides, displays, and even personnel embracing the doom-and-gloom. From grumpy guards to fair games that are impossible to win to grounds that look like a grim, post-apocalyptic wasteland, it’s covered in the kind of twisted humor that don’t typically find their way in a run-of-the-mill amusement park.
What can you find across Dismaland’s 2.5-acre site? There is, of course, plenty of Banksy art, including a police van fountain, a sculpture of a woman being attacked by seagulls, and Cinderella’s coach experiencing a fatal crash, which is joined by handpicked work from 58 other artists, including Jimmy Cauty, Damien Hirst, and Jenny Holzer. There are, surprisingly, no imagery of Disney’s famous mouse (banned by the artist), although some personnel do wear those familiar-looking mouse ears. There is a carousel, a ferris wheel, a mini-golf park, and a variety of fair games, all of which receive accompanying tweaks to mirror the not-quite-for-children theme, as well as a similarly-themed bars, stores, and even a tongue-in-cheek business offering high-interest allowance loans for children. Seriously, this looks fun in a twisted, somewhat demented way.
Dismaland is currently located at a seafront site in Weston-super-Mare, where visitors can get in for just £3. It will run until September 27.
via Business Insider