This week saw the launch of the latest installation by reclusive British artist Banksy, with his new project, Dismaland, opening in the U.K.. Billed as “The U.K.’s most disappointing new visitor attraction,” the “bemusement park” is a parody of Disneyland, finally sticking it to all the die-hard, high-powered Disney fans known to cluster in the British resort town of Weston-super-Mare.
The park’s opening day already attracted massive crowds, with people standing in line for four hours to see diallapidated castles, distorted mermaids, and bumper car-riding reapers. (It’s not clear whether the long lines and cramped conditions are a bug of the park’s design, or a feature, since the nice thing about being Banksy is that inconveniences can always be waved away as satirical intent.)
Dismaland (which features work not only from Banksy, but also 57 other international artists) won’t have to stand solely on artistic merits and/or cultural tourism to attract visitors, though; Banksy has announced a slate of musical acts who’ll be performing at the park. Performers schedule to play include Savages, Pussy Riot, Massive Attack, and, notably, rap duo Run The Jewels, who were recently interviewed by Banksy for The Guardian. The result is as interesting as you’d expect a conversation between those three people to be, with the discussion ranging from the joys of playing at theme parks, to YouTube videos that make them cry (with Banksy expressing his admiration for Killer Mike’s speech in the aftermath of the strife this summer in Ferguson), and the bravery it probably took to carve out Mount Rushmore. Dismaland runs in the U.K. for the next five weeks.