Dismaland Essay

706 Words2 Pages

Even after almost twenty years of creating street art, no one knows the true identity of the illustrious character known as Banksy. The notorious artist made a name for themself after creating and plastering politically charged satire of everyday life around the UK. These pieces caused an international fame and a cult following of the work. However, not everyone is fanatic about Banksy as others. In two recent articles, Dismaland's a hit, but how are Banksy's New York works holding up? and Banksy and the Problem With Sarcastic Art, authors Scott Christian and Dan Brooks, respectively, showcase the less than glamorous side of the artist. Through a critical lens, both authors show that not every satire produced by Banksy will have laughter to …show more content…

Banksy created Dismaland, a bemusement park, under the notion of “What if Disneyland were as bad as real life?” While he created several of the works, many other artists, such as Darren Cullen, contributed to the park to make a miserable experience. Besides the many flaws behind Dismaland, such as most of the public seemed either annoyed at the park or otherwise not caring, Brooks points out his main issue with the park with his inclusion of Cullen’s statements, “This place is brilliant… It is just amazing having this much sarcasm in one place.” Seeing as this statement comes from one of the contributing artist, and that the overall assessment of public reaction showed indifference, Brooks comes to the idea that Dismaland is nothing but “kitsch”, or offensive art only appreciated in an ironic way, and only meant as inside joke with its creators. Carol Duncan’s 1995 essay Public spaces, Private interests highlights on this idea of the inner circle within an art community. Dismaland gives the appearance of a art gallery for the artists to express their concerns with the world right now, or as Duncan would claim, a space for learning, but instead holds not so subtle jokes that fall flat, such as the tasteless joke of Cinderella’s fallen carriage. Dismaland created

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