On the opening day of Banksy’s Dismaland exhibition in Weston-super-mare, Tom May reveals how visitors reacted to the controversial theme park.
Radio controlled boats provide fun for kids - but watch out for those migrants!
For the braver visitor, there's the 'Astronaut's caravan' that's essentially a real life caravan that spins around on in axis with you inside. If you're not worried about killing your buzz, there's the 'Cruel' gallery, which is not shy about featuring some of the darkest topics in our society (definitely not one for the youngsters).
The children's seats are pretty bog standard
There's also some more straightforward art in the form of indoor galleries exhibiting painting and sculpture, although still with very much a radical and street art vibe.
Only Banksy could convince people to sit watching traffic lights changing
In total, 50 artists from around the world have contributed to Dismaland, including Damien Hirst, Bill Barminski, Caitlin Cherry, Polly Morgan, Josh Keyes, Mike Ross, David Shrigley, Bäst, and Espo. And of course there are 10 artworks of Banksy's own.
Some of the longest queues were for a hole in a piece of wood
In short, whether you spend four hours taking in every deliciously dark detail, or just whizz round this world of weirdness, you're sure to get a massive shot of creative inspiration from this amazingly bizarre environment - with added, and often unexpected, interactions from the public only adding to the fun.
Visitors help make extra art
The performance artists, from the unhelpful, depressive staff to wild-eyed dreadlocked politicos, are the icing on the cake, unnerving and entertaining the public in equal measure.
Some found it difficult to distinguish fellow visitors from performers
So if there's any way you can get to North Somerset in the UK between now and September 27th, we'd urge you to head here to get hold of a ticket (for just £3).*
There’s also a series of events at Dismaland including a show by Pussy Riot and Massive Attack on September 25th.
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*Stop press: After a day in which it appears no one has been able to book a ticket on the Dismaland website, and many have suggested the failed site itself is a just another ironic element of the 'Dismaland' experience, the latest official news is that tomorrow the park will be open to the public on a first-come, first served basis: more here.
We don't know what this is, but it's big and scary
And for those of you can't make it, we're hoping there'll at least be a nice coffee table book of all the creative insanity at some point. Certainly, if we hear of one, we'll let you know!
As ever, Banksy's main targets included consumerism and...
... the local constabulary
Can you spot the muppet amongst the militia?
Lots of the pieces were appropriately seaside themed
If you do get a ticket to Dismaland, please let us know what you thought of it, either on social media or the comments below!
