Hans Ruedi Giger on the Harkonnen Castle

Hans Ruedi Giger

HR Giger on the Harkonnen Castle

"Harkonnen stands on rising ground, a sort of hill, and consists of jagged bones and excrement which slowly crumble into dust. More bones and excrement are continually being ejected from Harkonnen, which crumble and are swept away by the eternally raging storms. A sort of staircase leads up the hill to the castle, defended by spears built into the bones on either side of the entrance, which have an independent existence and often impale the citizens just for fun.

"The castle itself, a symbol of intemperance, exploitation, aggression and brutality with a magical aura which has a negative effect on all the inhabitants, is egg-shaped and mostly burned in the ground. Like an iceberg which shows only a tenth of its volume, Harkonnen hides its evil deep inside. The body of the castle swivels on a circular track like a gun mounting and is surrounded by a bottomless trench some 70 metres wide. The only link with the outside world is a drawbridge which can be lowered like an enormous penis to admit visitors. The main gate is only an entrance, never an exit, for it has barbs like sharks' teeth which prevent anyone from turning back.

"The two walls of the drawbridge can be brought together hydraulically, crushing visitors who are hostile to the castle. the enemy's remains are scraped off by so-called wall cleaners when the bridge is in the raised position and fall into a conversion paint. Harkonnen is a gigantic Moloch, which functions by converting living beings into energy. Every visitor is materially or spiritually exploited (as I was for this film project). Whoever enters the castle stays there for the rest of his life, which in any case can only last a few seconds. The belly of Harkonnen is a gigantic, senseless gothic, empty space in which corpulent beings swing through the abyss on their suspensors. The thin, plump external skin is supported from inside by a bone-like structure in the form of gigantic vertical plates. The egg in the desert, a symbol of fertility and reclusion - nothing but a fragile, empty sham.

"Opposite the entrance is the ejector system. Here, from time to time, but particularly during attacks, gigantic quantities of charred bones and shit are hurled into the surrounding area, accompanied by thunder and fire.

"The head of Harkonnen is a gigantic defence installation designed to protect the castle from attack by both land and air. The face section of the head at the front of the body can be lowered mechanically revealing a fortified skull which spits death and destruction. In the top of the skull is a landing area for flying machines. The whole head can be raised or lowered, in order to aim it at the target. The upper arms of Harkonnen contain the conversion plants, while the lower arms contain more defence installations against attack from underground."

DUNE