There are a few aspects that I find to be quite curious 1) the park is described from the home page as hosting a festival of '... entry-level anarchism' http://dismaland.co.uk/ What does it have to do with anarchism, exactly, and how is anarchism intended here?
2) I see from the map that the park also has an art gallery, listed as the number one attraction, and hosting 'the finest collection of contemporary art'. That is where Hirst and co. can be seen, I suppose. http://dismaland.co.uk/map/ How is that part of the anarchism? is it supposed to be part of that? 3) The migrant boat attraction has been seen in many of the reports about Dismaland http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/08/20/17/2B8604CD00000578-3204653-image-a-105_1440087221163.jpg After a long stay in Italy this summer, and having seen the images of real migrants dying on the boats that cross the Mediterranean on television news almost every day, I found this attraction to be indeed quite disturbing, but also maybe uselessly so. I don't want to be necessarily sceptic and I would seriously like to visit the show before judging, I will give it the benefit of doubt. However, I find the whole project to be more interested in shocking the audience (and the press) than providing a critique, and a strategic one for that matter. That is maybe what I find most annoying with the use of the term 'anarchism', which I believe should be used with caution - unless the whole point is, indeed, to just attract the press and visitors. But if the term is used, and it is on this occasion, then the show must also be evaluated from a political standpoint, and that's when it becomes disappointing. How is the migrant boat, for instance, telling us something other than what we already know, and a part from having fun of our unwillingness to stop this tragedy? Seen from distance, it looks like a tired attempt, one that will certainly generate rumours but that will be gone in 5 weeks from now. I suspect the show will in fact be what it already claims to be, that is, 'the UK's most disappointing new visitor's attraction'. The problem that will remain for the rest of us, and after the show is gone, is how to understand the distinction between parody and satire in artistic practice, and if it is really necessary to evaluate similar interventions from a political standpoint. Best, On 22 August 2015 at 12:45, James Morris <[email protected]> wrote: > any thoughts? > good? a good thing? bad? bad in a good way? or just indifferent. > > saw on ch4 news one of the artists had never been an artist before, this > alongside such giants as everyone's favourite: damien hirst. > > if damien's there, maybe tracy should be too, but i would like to offer > another solutionm, tracy could come back to her home town and collect > rubbish off the streets - discarded matresses, crt monitors, sofas - that > people can't be bothered to take to the tip - and perhaps rejuvinate these > items into works of art? > > oh sorry. back to dismaland, i would be tempted to visit if it was less > inconvenient, ie, it was just down the road so i didn't have to venture out > of thanet. it's only open for 5 weeks. > > there you are then, that's the sum total of my dismal thoughts toward > dismaland. > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour -- paolo ruffino http://paoloruffino.com _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
