News of Banksy's Dismaland has reached most corners of the Internet. This conceptual art installation is a large-scale satirization of Disneyland, complete with unhelpful employees, uncomfortable rides, and unsettling art. It contains a run-down Sleeping Beauty's Castle and a full-sized Cinderella's carriage, crashed and crawling with paparazzi. Reviews of the "bemusement" park are mixed but there is no doubt Banksy has once again grabbed the world's attention.
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Although he is one of the most famous artists in the world, no one knows who Banksy is. Originally going by Robin Banx in his early days (the late 1980s and early 1990s in Bristol, England) he eventually settled on Banksy and has remained otherwise anonymous. His characteristic stencil style also evolved fairly early on. Smithsonian Magazine reports that Banksy came to this art form when he was painting a train with friends one night and had to hide from the cops. Lying for an hour under a truck, he realized he needed to make his art more quickly. The stencil above his head, on the bottom of the truck's fuel tank, inspired him. Not only would stenciling allow him to make intricate art more quickly, stencils had history. "They've been used to start revolutions and to stop wars," he told author and friend Tristan Manco.
Revolutionism is certainly something people associate with Banksy's work. He often creates unabashed commentaries on war, politics, greed, and capitalism. Ironically, his own works can command hundreds of thousands of dollars. He has admitted to this issue and the criticism is softened some by the knowledge that Banksy donates a fair number of pieces and their proceeds to charity and offers high-resolution versions of work for free download.
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CNN: Welcome to Dismaland: Banksy's new grotesque art theme park