August 22, 2015 Six thirty wake up to walk to the tube to venture across England from London to Weston Super-Mare to visit Banksy’ Dismaland theme park art installation. Two hours and forty minutes on one bus just to spend another hour on another, the thirsty was quite real, but worth it. I was with a friend as his girlfriend that were with me traveling to the UK to make films and learn about British filmmakers. Riding the second bus we were enthused wondering if we were even going to be let in with the website problem, the hype, and the easy access to almost every part of England from everywhere else, along with that the cheap price for entry, 3 pounds. We were worried but even just seeing the outside would be worth it because we’d in all likelihood be the first Americans to see the place, vanity is essential when convincing yourself to do things. We got out of the bus and walked towards the installation noticing some of the piers that were on the beach and looking off into the distance to see Whales and some other unhabituated islands. The beach walk was moderately full of natives and the small pier level theme park they had there was being put to use. We started thinking of other things to do if we were turned away at the door of the installation, mini golf, McDonalds, swimming to Whales. We walked into the queue at eleven with around 700 people in front of us who likely had been there since seven or eight in the morning litter of breakfasts and empty beer bottles were everywhere. We waited for 3 hours in line, talking about the 8-page paper we were ignoring to see this and the how we only had 4 days left in London and what we should do with it. My friend spoke about other art shows he’s been to and started noticing all the children, young children that were brought here by their parents. With that scene set it’s on, I’m almost sweating because it’s almost fate that we were giving the chance to see this. As it approached 2pm we get to the front of the line, our bags already checked, a man yells out “Next ten victims” and we’re escorted across the street to another security check point, at that point I encounter the first of many disillusioned theme park workers in a pink caution vest and spray painted micky mouse ears. I asked “Can I take a selfie.” I hear “if you must.” In a very monotone unenthused heavily accented Russian voice, I proceed to take it, I’m smiling she’s barley opening hereeyes, I laugh, my friend told me earlier that he did the same with another worker. She said “Are you my fan?” he answered “no.” he took the selfie, she said “you are now” you walk into the second security check point made completely of cardboard sculptures, even the security workers have cardboard pockets on their shirts, I get asked “If I’m sure if I packed my bag by myself” I answer “yes” then told to look into the camera and walked through a cardboard metal detector, then another worker scans me with her own personal cardboard metal detector, asking me “you look familiar, have you been here?” I laugh, and answer “nah” then I take photos of the cardboard computer station and cardboard model of black and red Air Jordan ones going through a cardboard X-ray machine. I walk out into the park and hear first accordion music and chiming in over the music is a baby voice? Not sure saying things like “Use you kindness now, because cruelty is good for later.” And “Don’t trust visions that don’t include buckets of blood” Another pink caution best worker hands me a map of the park stating the phrase “End-Joy” a homophone for “enjoy” which also made me laugh in the dudes face. Everywhere in the park there were pay-for-lounge chairs that are in every park and beach in Europe but were free here. The first thing you notice in the park is the castle, which is Cinderella’s castle and a fucked up version of it, it look like a swamp ate it and threw it up, it looks like a place that should have the words ‘free candy’ spray painted on the front, it looks like a place that would continually be raided for meth even though no one has been in it for ten years. The place that the park was built in was an unused pool so the middle of it was filled with some rancid swamp water, which was good for bugs. I immediately went to the gift shop and bought two shirts, after I walked out I started walking around noticing the lady being attacked by bird while sitting on a bench, the caricature drawings of the back of everyone’s head. The scorpion like gas truck, the slave ship motor boat controller the oil spill pelican the knock over the anvil with a ping pong ball, the rides that aren’t really rides at all. There was a place where you can relax and watch a series of vimeo art films, one of which was a computer simulation of hooligans attacking each other and being destroyed by metal bar spinning them around like a blender. I sat and watched several of them drinking a cider. I took in the atmosphere, there was a billboard of a billboard that was being crushed by someone, there were notes that read, “I love the way you caress my body ego” I was sitting there in my own head thinking about the amount of work and energy it took to make this, the simple detail the research wondering if anyone else that was here around me took the journey that I did or further. I finished my cider and walked to the other side of the park and saw the Orca jumping out of the toilet through a hoop that’s too small and into a kiddy pool. I was approached by sign makers that were spray painting “eat the rich” on old card board, wasn’t sure if they were a part of the park or not, gave them a head nod and went to the next installation. There was library that had alternative reading and small synopsis of books there were on display, the library of course was in a trailer and filled with saw dust. The next trailer was a cruelty box that was filled with fucked up antihuman shit governments make to keep people away from each other, I was only able to get a small ingestion of this we were kicked out for maintained. The next place was ‘NoBorders’ book store and a place where you can sign up for acorn, I bought a small book about the Russian Revolution and a pin that said strike, I was rush out of there. Next to that was a tent that had anti war posters, but being real the place smelled like way too much BO, every tent or closed place smelled terrible. There was mini golf that no one could win at. But I looked over to the gallery, which before had a huge line, but the line was gone so I walked over to it again, stopping half way to get another cider. I walked in to a grim reaper dancing on a bumper car to “Stay in the light” then saw a baby in a vending machine, before walking into the art gallery where a security guard told him finish your cider then come back in, I walked back into the room chugged it, walked into the gallery, the guard told me that the room you standing in is worth 1.7 billion and that I should know better. I was blown away, early in the month I was standing in a room with Warhols self portrait and Monroe and Roy Lichtenstein’s Whamp thinking then, shit this is an expensive room, then standing there like shit, not to look at everything with a monetary stance its still something to be jaw dropped about. At the end of gallery there was another room with a huge city model of a city being completely ravaged by riots, the detail was amazing, to me the best thing in he entire park, besides the entire park. I left the gallery and remembered that there was a Cinderella castle that I wasn’t allowed in earlier, so I walked back over to the front of the castle to a sign that said no entry and walk into a path that got darker and darker as you walked in then you see flashing, and the over turned magical carriage given to Cinderella by the fairy god mother you walk around to see, barley only when lights are flashing, the flipped carriage and Cinderella hanging out of the side bright blue eyes wide open whilst the police instead of helping are taking pictures of her. Eerily similar to what happened with Princess Diana. I walked out of the castle and met back with my friends, they took photos and I sat in the pay for lounge chairs, until it started to pour rain. We left the park, after I placed a couple Jiveass stickers around the park and five finger discounted some merch.