Dismaland Model Village Comes To London

By Londonist Last edited 109 months ago

Last Updated 24 November 2015

Dismaland Model Village Comes To London

Didn't make it to Banksy's Dismaland when it took over a corner of Weston-super-Mare in the summer? Fear not, because a slice of the bemusement park has made it to London, in the form of the Aftermath Dislocation Principle — a model village with a difference. London model village enthusiast Tim Dunn took a peep through the hoardings.

Artist Jimmy Cauty and team have brought their model village — the Aftermath Dislocation Principle — to SE1.  You may have heard of Cauty before — he was formerly of the KLF. But here in London, over the course of the next two months, he and his team are working on location behind wire fences building 'New Bedford'.

But before you plan a visit with the kids, expecting jolly little mock-tudor homes, flowerbeds full of pansies and steam trains chuffing full of happy little passengers off on a jaunt to a miniature seaside, you might want to think again. This is a model village gone very wrong: normally to miniaturise is to sanitise, but here to miniaturise is to satirise. This is no Bekonscot.

The Aftermath Dislocation Principle is miniature dystopian future cityscape built to the same scale as many model train sets (1:87) set somewhere in Bedfordshire. About 3,000 miniature police are seen in the immediate aftermath of what seems to have been a huge riot. Housing estates, motorways, cars, a Tesco, and a church all lie burned and looted. It’s a square mile of devastation, desolation and despair. A screen with Theresa May flickers in the corner.

There are few civilians to be seen; perhaps they’ve abandoned this home-county-turned-police-state. Perhaps they’ve been taken away. But those 3,000 police stand silently, helplessly — and the largest accumulation seems to be at Burger King.

Previously set out on open tables, now this scenery is contained within black hoardings. Tiny peepholes let the visitor look in a voyeuristic way on the ghoulish scenery — or you can hop up on a stepladder and peek down — but getting down to eye level really immerses you in the detail,  as commuter trains rumble overhead this railway arch in which Bedfordshire is built.

Staff making models for New Bedford on site in London

Cauty knows his audience — this is a model village with a message: It’s open 12pm-7pm Wednesdays to Fridays, 12pm-6pm Saturdays and Sundays until the end of February 2016 at America Street, SE1 0NJ. Adults £4, under 14s go free.,