When Banksy opened his much-talked about “Bemusement Park“, Dismaland – a humungo art installation that presented a deliciously bleak, dystopian version of the traditional theme park, complete with crumbling rides – the demand for tix was so high that its website crashed.
Five weeks and 150,000 visitors later, its gates closed for the last time on Sunday night, shortly after which the street artist announced it’ll be dismantled and repurposed as housing for the estimated 5,000 refugees camped in the French port of Calais.
The post on Dismaland’s website read:
“Coming soon… Dismaland Calais. All the timber and fixtures from Dismaland are being sent to the ‘jungle’ refugee camp near Calais to build shelters. No online tickets will be available.”
It was accompanied by a picture of the Calais camp superimposed with Dismaland’s fire-ravaged Cinderella Castle.
Located at the derelict lido site
Tropicana in North Somerset, England, local officials reckon Dismaland pulled in $43.3 million in business from tourists who flocked to see Banksy’s biggest art piece to date – pretty fucking impressive.If you missed out (which, TBH, most us did), console yourself with the creepy AF trailer.
Thanks for all the nightmares, Banksy.
Images via Dismaland.
