Explicit cookie consent | The Economist

?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/dismaland

  • Anti-establishment art: Banksy’s Dismaland, the Miserable Kingdom | The Economist

    http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2015/08/anti-establishment-art?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/dismaland

    N EDWARDIAN times Weston-Super-Mare’s beach was as full of holiday-makers as Benidorm, the Spanish coastal resort where the Easyjet-set go to get sun. Today a lone child kicks sand under overcast skies. “Ice cold refreshing slush”, reads a board on the beach, offering a weather forecast along with soft drinks. Not for nothing is this patch of England called Somerset. The little big-wheel rotates in the wind with nobody in it. Even the sea seems to have fled the resort, retreating at low tide beyond the horizon. The loudest voices are the caws of the gulls.

    Fish-and-chip shops are boarded up, along with a paint-peeling toy shop. “Gifts 4 All, 7 days a week,” sighs its rotten sign. The largest store on the high-street is a £1 shop, contending for custom with its nearby rival, “99p”. UKIP, an anti-immigrant party, is the only political party with any visible high-street presence. (The tacky £ in its logo resembles another pound-shop.) “Please refrain from washing your feet in these facilities,” a notice sneers at Muslims in the public urinal. For nostalgia’s sake, pensioners are the main visitors, down for the day from Birmingham with their blankets and thermos flasks. The most dedicated come here to die.

    #bansky #dismaland #art #anti_establishement