(photo credit: MrASingh via twitter)
My ego and cynicism has
always got in the way of me truly enjoying any of Banksy's work. During
his Banksy vs Bristol exhibition in 2009
I was studying up the road at Bristol School of Art and I came up with a vague,
ill-informed theory which I have stuck with 'til now. Essentially, I refused to
take the artist's work on face value and decided 'he' is a fictional character
created by Bristol City Council to drive people into the city. People travelled
from all over the world, queueing for hours on end and spending thousands of
pounds in Bristol. Congratulations to the council, I thought.
Fast forward six years and I find myself stood in the
blazing sunshine, feeling sassy in face full of make up, a summer dress and a
pair of Micheal Kors sunglasses. Then moments later, the torrential rain kicks
in and I'm in sopping wet
clothes, make up down my face and - as one of the Dismaland staff pointed out
to me "You aint' gonna need them sunglasses are you, love?" I
am queuing for Banksy's latest exhibition, Dismaland.
I'm sure I don't need to
tell you the gist of the concept, it's all over Twitter, Facebok and every
national news website going. Initially I was disappointed that photos were so
readily available after the press day. I wanted to be surprised! However, I can
safely say seeing a photo tweeted by Ch4 news in no way compares to the
experience of being there. It didn't ruin the experience for me, I was still
surprised.
Of course, I started my
Dismal experience like everyone else - repeatedly clicking the JPEG image of a
'ticket' calendar Banksy had trolled us all with on the Dismaland website -
none the wiser to the fact that this waste of my time is quite possibly part of
the message Dismaland portays. By tweeting and facebooking our disappointment
at the site 'crashing' we may as well be walking around holding a balloon
stating 'I AM AN IMBECILLE'. Oh, wait...
(Photo credit Alicia Canter for the Guardian)
An aspect of Dismaland I
love is that one person will connect with one feature, and the person stood
next to them may not quite 'get' what's going on...
In the gallery section I
was mesmerised by a set up of a desk. A projection played a loop of various
recognisable children's TV characters. Stood next to me was a child saying to
his mother "Mum, you've seen it already, it's just playing again. Mum,
it's just on a loop can we go now?" My boyfriend mirrored this
sentiment, he was more interested in Caroline McCarthy's plant pots (I won't
ruin that one for you).
The music, teamed with
the repetitive animation, the screwed up bits of paper and the little details
(empty packets of sugar, pens which looks like they've had a hard life, and
cotton buds destined for the bin) reminded me of my life a few years ago
studying animation. The concept of this piece was something I can really relate
to. To put it bluntly... animation sucks. It's monotonous, it's lonely, it's
frustrating, and it deprives you of sleep.
The piece is by Andreas Hydake and the film is called
'Love & Theft' and is available on his website, if you're not able to get
to Dismaland and want to have a watch and a listen!
The highlight of the day
for me took place in Darren Cullen's 'Pocket Money Loans' pop up shop. On face
value this looks like your every day high street payday loan shop. Inside
features posters luring in kids with 'FREE TOYS AVAILABLE'.
I was lucky enough
to witness a golden moment in which a boy of about 6 approached the desk asking
for his free toy. It was explained to him that to get your free toy you can
borrow against the amount of pocket money you receive, but then you'll have to pay
loads back (5,000% to be precise) and then you can have a free
toy, but then also loads of bad things to do with APR and bullies acting as
bailiffs will happen but don't worry about that because it's boring and you
want your free toy RIGHT NOW.
The kids face was an
absolute picture, I honestly wish I'd caught it on camera he was so
baffled.
Although this was
pricelessly entertaining, it did raise the point that loan companies are
exploiting the vulnerability and naiveté of underpaid workers in the UK, and
basically it just isn't fair and it isn't nice.
I had a big think and a
lengthy chat with the boyf after leaving Dismaland, and came to the conclusion
that it doesn't matter who Banksy is. It doesn't matter how involved or
uninvolved the council are. It doesn't matter who knew and why they did or
didn't keep his identity a secret. That's not for me to worry about, what is
for me to worry about it how lucky I am to live in the South West of this
wondrous first world country, and that there is some incredible artistic talent
working here on our planet.
Please note I've barely
touched upon Dismaland in it's entirety, there is so much more than what I've
mentioned here. It also features Cinderella in a situation which could have
brought me to tears, lessons on how to be a street artist without breaking the
law, various fair ground games, a short-film cinema and most importantly a
handful of bars!
I strongly recommend a
visit to Dismaland, whether it's because you remember The Tropicana in it's
heyday, or because you want to expand your political knowledge. Whether you
want to read facts on the demise of our society, or just look at beautiful
pieces of design. Whether you want to go on your own, spending the day with
your own thoughts, or take the entire family for a fun day on a carousel (I did
spot a family of 4 doing this, oblivious to the horse-meat scandal reference
made explicit with a carnival horse hanging behind a butcher opposite their
choice of horse). I think every person, in one way or another will leave
Dismaland having taken something from their day. I certainly had an absolutely
Dismal time.
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