Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn
(In his house at R’lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming)
Whether it was at R’lyeh or elsewhere in the universe, Cthulhu came as a dream to Hackatao, or rather, as a nightmare urging them to wake up to art.
Since its literary origin nearly a century ago, Cthulhu lived on through films, games, memes, music, and other popular means. Starting from the nonsensical depths of the universe where H. P. Lovecraft conjured it up, this monstrous character has now become an authentic icon, and also a target of Hackatao’s attentive analysis of contemporaneity and pop culture. If it stands for absolute evil in Lovecraft’s works, it can now be used to ironize about the lesser of two evils in other contexts.
More than that, the myth of Cthulhu with its hybrid nature, between divinity and priest, the way it lays seemingly dormant beyond death itself and the influence it exerts on humankind through its psychic powers, these all are the elements that cast a spell over Hackatao and their imagination. Through their vision, a Cthulhu with multiple, blinking eyes surfaces from a vortex of endlessly repeated words: ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn is the mantra, reminding of Tibetan prayer wheels.
Central, inescapable, crowned in sharp fangs, the creature’s wide mouth opens as an oblique smile over the absolute vastness of a black hole.
A sort of subconscious force of gravity attracts the observer to the monster’s core. It is the very womb of the universe what one can glimpse at there. And yet, by observing longer the tentacular figure one can spot a small, gracious heart on its chest. It is pitch black, indeed; but couldn’t it be the tiny dot of good within the negative half of the Tao, the light sign of love hacking sheer hatred?
What is certain is that Cthulhu is a demon as both a devil and a genius to Hackatao, acting as a tormenting drive to keep creating art. The wide mouth of this supernatural entity inspires an overwhelming craving in those who hear its voice. As talent itself, Cthulhu may lay dormant for a long time, but once waken by the cry “ia, ia, Cthulhu fhtagn,” there is no way to resist its call.
Chiara Braidotti aka #BrightBraid
Other works by Hackatao inspired by Cthulhu:
