When you wish upon a star, everything you think you know is a lie.
At least, that’s what Dismaland would have you believe.
Banksy’s newest art installation might explore some of his age-old theses, but his newest project’s very creation says so much more about the art world.
Dismaland, a pseudo-amusement park filled with art pieces from a slew of different artists, plays on recognizable Disney figures to convey powerful messages.
A quick peak at Instagram photos of Dismaland will show some of the more striking portions of the park.
There’s a recreation of Princess Diana’s death featuring Cinderella slung out of her carriage with dozens of paparazzi.
The park features numerous “selfie holes” for visitors to take souvenir shots all alone.
For the kids, there is a fun boat game depicting the immigrant boat crisis.
At first glance, the pieces in the park are a little repetitive of Banksy’s previous work, at least in theme.
Capitalism sucks, technology is ruining us and the government is bad.
We know.
But what is most striking about the park is the way the public is talking about it.
Sure, Dismaland is Banksy’s baby — he laid the ground work, provided the concept and called in other artists — but it’s a showcase for so much more than Banksy.
Bigger names in controversial art, though not as household in nature as Banksy, like Jenny Holzer and Damien Hirst, have work featured throughout the park.
Many of the artists whose work appears in Dismaland are much lesser known, though.
These 58 artists come from 16 different countries, bringing with them 58 different perspectives.
So why, then, are we only talking about Banksy?
His name carries a lot of fire with it — so much that it may be overpowering the other artists’ in our minds.
Followers of his previous work know he has some scornful things to say about consumerism and branding.
So branding a park that is not even made up of solely his work as his art seems completely counterproductive.
Adding a Banksy trademark to the entirety of Dismaland not only gives him entirely too much credit, but it also could cause potential visitors to write it off, thinking if they already know his schtick they don’t really need to go see the park, and that limits the audience for the rest of the collaborators.
Viewers of Dismaland should see it as a complete, diverse world comprised of the craft and opinion of a diverse amount of artists.
They should see it as an opportunity to add some new names to their list of artists to check out.
Most importantly, they should see Dismaland as art, not “Banksy’s new art park.”
