海角大神

Impossibly bored, sulking employees; stagnant 鈥渇airy-tale鈥� moats; and throngs of hipsters carting 鈥淚 am an imbecile鈥� balloons: the fun will all come to an end at Dismaland Sunday night, when street-art phenomenon Banksy鈥檚聽satirical theme park shuts up shop for good after performances by Pussy Riot, De La Soul, and even 鈥� just possibly 鈥� a rumored appearance by Eminem.聽

Likely to cause even more of a stir, however, is the appearance of Banksy himself, the broadly anti-establishment graffiti artist whose politically-loaded designs have taken the art world by storm, even as critics grumble that he鈥檚 not anti-establishment enough. He鈥檚 鈥淭he $20 Million Graffiti Artist Who Doesn鈥檛 Want His Art To Be Worth Anything,鈥� as Forbes鈥� Danielle Rahm put it, still unidentified after years of fame, and he will attend the grand finale of his five-week installation, his biggest yet, only on the condition that all party-goers don masks.

Before Banksy,聽鈥淒ismaland鈥� was an abandoned public swimming pool in the faded UK beachside town of Weston-super-Mare. An invited team of 50 artists transformed the boardwalk into a temporary 鈥渂emusement鈥� park聽that left some of its 150,000 visitors feeling caught in a bind, unsure if their love of all things Banksy implicated them in the same capitalist consumer mindset that the installation set out to critique.

Dismay-seekers entered the park through a mock airport security scanner, then chose from a smorgasbord of equally sinister, or just cynical, entertainment options: taking selfies in front of Cinderella鈥檚 lifeless body amid fake car-crash wreckage, for instance, or driving remote-controlled migrant rafts around a tiny pool as they鈥檙e chased by European powerboats. (There was also the option for visitors to take the helm of the coast guard boat themselves.)

In an interview offered on his, or her, website, Banksy comments that Dismaland鈥檚聽

Elsewhere, he鈥檚 opined that 鈥渢heme parks should have bigger themes.鈥�

It would appear that legions of fans agree. Hours-long queues of visitors from around the world buoyed Weston-super-Mare鈥檚 economy by 拢20 million pounds, or about $30 million dollars, since Dismaland鈥檚 gates opened on August 21. 聽鈥淚t will be a shame to see it go,鈥� local hotel manager Wayne Entwhistle told the Guardian.

Although the bedraggled, predominantly grey-and-brown visuals of Britain鈥檚 self-declared 鈥渕ost disappointing new visitor attraction鈥� first caught tourists鈥� eyes, Dismaland鈥檚 uniquely uncharming charm stemmed just as much from its human side.

In a video posted to Mashable.com, the cheerful park-goer asks an employee, 鈥淎re you having a good time here?鈥�

鈥淲hat do you think?鈥� she deadpans, looking pained by his questions in her bright-pink security vest and Mickey Mouse ears.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e having a terrible time, aren鈥檛 you?鈥�

鈥淵eah, it鈥檚 rubbish.鈥�

鈥淚t is controversial, it is in bad taste and it makes people think 鈥� that鈥檚 what art should do,鈥� Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova told the Guardian. The Russian activist band鈥檚 performance at Dismaland this weekend, their first-ever live set, criticized European nations鈥� response to the migrant crisis with a song written especially for the occasion.

Not all critics are sold on Banksy鈥檚 approach to provocative art. Although art producer Kath Cockshaw calls him 鈥渢he street art king of meaning," it鈥檚 a title that makes other critics, and political artists, squirm.

New York Magazine critic Jerry Saltz has attributed Banksy鈥檚 mass appeal to the 鈥渇risson鈥� people feel around something 鈥渟lightly bad-boy,鈥� 鈥渁narchy-lite.鈥� The Guardian鈥檚 art critic Jonathan Jones blasted Dismaland as 鈥渁 charade where everyone has to pretend this is a better joke than it really is,鈥� art that 鈥渃laims to be making you think鈥� while, in reality, providing little more than photo ops.

Is "thinking" enough for Banksy? It鈥檚 unclear. 鈥淲hy should children be immune from the idea that to maintain our standard of living other children have to die trapped in the hulls of boats in the bottom of the Mediterranean?鈥� he asks, calling out adults who 鈥渉ave convinced themselves small incremental change and buying organic tomatoes is enough.鈥�

How about buying a theme park ticket? Would Dismaland have been most successful if no one had shown up?

There鈥檚 no way to tell, for now. Dismaland鈥檚 homepage announces the next stop is 鈥淒ismaland Calais,鈥� noting, 鈥淣o online tickets will be available.鈥�