People are flocking to the new anti-Disney installation in Weston-super-Mare created by the street artist Banksy, entitled Dismaland. It sounds horribly compelling: especially the Mickey Mouse-eared attendants who are reportedly briefed to respond to every request for information with a sullen shrug or “wanker” gesture. The attraction that sounds best has been devised by David Shrigley, a Turner-nominated artist for whom the word genius is not too strong. He has invented a fairground-type game called Knock the Anvil. You try to knock an anvil off a broad, sturdy pedestal by throwing tennis balls at it. The prize is an anvil. I think Shrigley’s brilliance consists in enigmatically declining to make it clear whether the prize anvil would be the one you are pointlessly trying to knock over. Or perhaps there are dozens of anvils waiting to be won. The other reason I am mildly obsessed with this piece is that it is a gripping metaphor for film critics writing derogatory reviews of big, dumb lucrative Hollywood blockbusters. We sometimes behave as if our latest devastating scathing critique really did make the anvil wobble.
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