Weston-super-Mare, a seaside resort, town and civil parish in Somerset, England will host British street artist Banksy’s most ambitious project to date. New Disneyland Parody, aptly named Dismaland stretches on 2.5 acre Weston’s sea front promenade features enough thought-provoking and hilarious contents, but they are not recommended for young children and could be disturbing for them. Everything here is a striking shade of bleak colour. Black, brown, mucky grey with occasional shots of sharp red – even the staff. And everything is sarcastic: A grim reaper performs donuts in a bumper car.
A horse-meat butcher sits on a merry-go-round, while people try to ‘Hook-A-Duck’ from an oil-spill. The puppets Punch and Judy are also there, making wicked references to popular culture.
The main attraction used to be Weston-super-Mare’s lido but is now dominated with what used to Cinderella’s castle, now rotting and exposed. Inside the castle lies possibly the exhibition’s most poignant exhibit. After visitors have a photograph taken against a green screen, they stumble through the darkness to find an overturned carriage.
Lying besides it is a dead horse, made in the classic Disney style. Within the carriage lies Cinderella, have inside and half out, apparently dead.
A sign close to the central pond reads: “Free Hot Dog: for anyone who can guess what animal is in their hot dog.”
The park will be at this location for five weeks from August 22nd to September 27th 2015. There are three galleries, tents, dozens of installations, an open-air cinema showing short films and bands like Massive Attack and Pussy Riot will perform in the coming weeks.