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Banksy: 'it would be a shame if graffiti was killed off by venture capitalism' Banksy's Dismaland: fans express frustration over crashing website
(about 2 hours later)
Banksy has spoken out against predatory art speculators who are endangering the “valid and important art form” of graffiti. In an exclusive Q&A with the Guardian Guide, the artist said making street art was hard enough without the added risk of someone removing it to sell to a rich private buyer. People wanting to buy tickets for Banksy’s new Dismaland show have been finding it impossible and the question being asked was: is the miserable frustration meant to be part of the experience?
He also criticised the art market as a whole for discouraging risk and rewarding artists for being able to deliver recognisable works on a regular basis. The artist has opened his biggest project to date in a crumbling former lido in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. Journalists were allowed in on Thursday and on Friday it was the turn of local residents who formed a long queue from early in the morning. Saturday is meant to be the first day for the wider public with 4,000 £3 tickets a day being made available.
Banksy was speaking as his new show and biggest project to date opens to the public in a crumbling former lido in Weston-super-Mare. On Friday, it was for residents of the town only, and they queued from early morning to get one of the £3 tickets being sold for Dismaland, described by Banksy as “a festival of art, amusements and entry-level anarchism”. However, the Dismaland website was not working on Friday and people attempting to buy tickets took to Twitter to express their frustration, even asking if the whole thing was a hoax.
Banksy is the best known street artist in the world and has been leaving his comic, subversive mark on the urban landscape since the early 1990s. Is Banksy's Dismaland bemusement park just one big hoax? http://t.co/Uo5g5wgdUH
With his global rise has come the growing private market, and many of his spray paint murals being removed from their original settings and sold for huge sums. At an auction in 2013, for example, a mural called Slave Labour, which took a swipe at the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, reportedly sold for more than £750,000. I guess the misery of queuing and a crashing website is part of the satire #Dismaland
Love that the #Dismaland website keeps crashing and people are complaining about it. Irony really is lost on some people.
The Guardian can confirm that Dismaland exists, that nearly 60 artists including Banksy are exhibiting work and that dozens of people have been hired as miserable “helpers” wearing pink hi-vis jackets and cheap Mickey Mouse ears.
The ticketing question remains unclear although the likelihood is that the website is buckling under the huge strain of demand for tickets. Spokespeople for Dismaland were not responding to calls on Friday.
Related: Banksy's Dismaland: 'a theme park unsuitable for children' – in pictures
The website problems came as Banksy spoke out against predatory art speculators who are endangering the “valid and important art form” of graffiti. In an exclusive Q&A with the Guardian Guide, the artist said making street art was hard enough without the added risk of someone removing it to sell to a rich private buyer.
He criticised the art market as a whole for discouraging risk and rewarding artists for being able to deliver recognisable works on a regular basis.
Banksy is the best-known street artist in the world and has been leaving his comic, subversive mark on the urban landscape since the early 1990s.
With his global rise has come the growing private market and many of his spray paint murals have been removed from their original settings and sold for huge sums. At an auction in 2013, for example, a mural called Slave Labour, which took a swipe at the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, reportedly sold for more than £750,000.
Banksy was asked how he felt when his work was sold or removed. He told the Guardian: “I don’t think much about it, but for the art form as a whole it’s unhealthy.Banksy was asked how he felt when his work was sold or removed. He told the Guardian: “I don’t think much about it, but for the art form as a whole it’s unhealthy.
“When you paint illegally you have so much to contend with – cameras, cops, Neighbourhood Watch, drunk people throwing bottles at your head – so adding ‘predatory art speculators’ to the mix just makes it even harder. Graffiti is an important and valid art form, it would be a shame if it was killed by venture capitalism.” “When you paint illegally you have so much to contend with – cameras, cops, Neighbourhood Watch, drunk people throwing bottles at your head – so adding ‘predatory art speculators’ to the mix just makes it even harder. Graffiti is an important and valid art form. It would be a shame if it was killed by venture capitalism.”
Asked whether he thought the art market poisoned creativity, he said it certainly doesn’t encourage it. Banksy said: “Like most markets, it rewards being able to reliably deliver recognisable product on a regular basis, which isn’t necessarily a recipe for exciting art. Related: Banksy: ‘I think a museum is a bad place to look at art’
“I heard someone on the radio say ‘it’s not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster’. Which is why I’ve spent months making distorted fibreglass fairground sculptures to install in a dirty lido miles from anywhere.” Asked whether he thought the art market poisoned creativity, he said it did not encourage it. Banksy said: “Like most markets, it rewards being able to reliably deliver recognisable product on a regular basis, which isn’t necessarily a recipe for exciting art.
Dismaland opened its doors for the first time this week after being shrouded in secrecy, with local residents being led to believe it was a film set for a Hollywood thriller. “I heard someone on the radio say: ‘It’s not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster.’ Which is why I’ve spent months making distorted fibreglass fairground sculptures to install in a dirty lido miles from anywhere.”
Dreamed up and curated by Banksy, nearly 60 artists are exhibiting works which will be on show at the 2.5-acre site until 27 September. A total of 4,000 tickets priced at £3 are being sold every day, but Dismaland’s website was repeatedly crashing under the strain on Friday. Dismaland opened its doors for the first time after being shrouded in secrecy, with local residents being led to believe it was a film set for a Hollywood thriller. Dreamed up and curated by Banksy, it is planned to remain open until 27 September.
In his Guardian interview, he called it “a place where you can get your counterculture easily available over the counter. A theme park for the disenfranchised, with franchises available”. In his Guardian interview, he called it “a place where you can get your counterculture easily available over the counter. A theme park for the disenfranchised, with franchises available.”
He said it was modelled on the sad winter wonderlands that pop up every December “where they charge £20 to look at some alsatians with antlers taped to their heads towing a sleigh from a skip”. More seriously, Banksy added: “I think a museum is a bad place to look at art; the worst context for art is other art.” He said it was modelled on the sad winter wonderlands that pop up every December “where they charge £20 to look at some alsatians with antlers taped to their heads towing a sleigh from a skip”. He added: “I think a museum is a bad place to look at art; the worst context for art is other art.”