Wednesday, March 26, 2008

devil squid

After a long hiatus, "Weird Knoxville" is back...
I noticed this "mural" on my way back from work one day, once again confirming that Broadway may be the weirdest street in Knoxville. It's over by Ray's Market (a whole other Weird Knoxville post in itself) near where Broadway goes under I-40 and dozens of homeless people play "Let's See If This Car Will Hit Me While I Walk Slowly Across The Street."

Is it a squid or octopus? I'd say squid, except that it's shooting ink- out of some sort of nozzle, no less. And is that a halo? But what about the devil horns? Do they cancel each other out?

Discuss: this is either a messed up fantasy mural or an illustration of the end of the world from the Bhagavad Gita. Either way, it's weird. Talk amongst yahselves.

19 comments:

Amelia said...

I always secretly wondered whether or not the homeless tried to get hit with your car every time I drive through there. I'm glad someone shares my same thoughts. Is Ray's Market that little store with all the bars across it, kind of adjacent to KARM? I'm looking for that mural next time.

ck said...

amelia- Ray's is across the street from Pumps of Tennessee, almost under the interstate. Graning Paint Co. is right next to it- the mural is next to that. If you're heading north on Broadway and stopped at Depot St., you'll see it to your left.

stan said...

i'm definitely going with squid. though the shape of creature and it's tentacles resembles more of an octopus, the head piece clearly has squid all over it. maybe the artist is trying to envision a squid-octopus lovechild?
i think that the strange yellow shape has to be the sun--or a slice of kraft american floating in the water.
i just wonder what the creature's squirting at. maybe the artist's boss parked in that spot regularly? i'd like to see someone get a hold of a used submersible (called the nautilus of course) and park it there permanently.

RebeccaH said...

Cthulhu. The Elder Gods are obviously returning.

Anonymous said...

Whoring for a PZ myers link?

Anonymous said...

It the stars are right, it's Cthulhu.

Anonymous said...

Crap, I just lost 3 SAN from viewing that mural.

Unknown said...

A squid would (ought to) have two tentacles in addition to eight arms.

[/pedant] :-)

Anonymous said...

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!

Anonymous said...

Yes, it is Cthulhu.

skullface said...

It is an end-of-class project done by people who took a month-long painting class at Host Studio last year.

Unknown said...

Cthulhu ftaghn.

PeteRR said...

Pardon me boy,
Is this the Lair of Great Cthulhu?
In the city of slime,
Where it is night all the time.

spool32 said...

It's Cthulhu

samuel said...

I'm trying to christen that stretch of Broadway "the shooting gallery" because I like to view the homeless as little ducks and my car as the .22 short round. I know this probably makes me a bad person, but they are worse for my car's brakes than red light cameras. Besides, telling people to look for the squidopus driving north right before the shooting gallery would be easier than the explanations already provided.

The Pol said...

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A Jacksonian said...

Between the waterfront and the cemetary?

Yes, Cthulhu it is... any abandoned churches nearby? If so then a Dream-Quest for Unknown Kadath may be necessary.

Amelia said...

Took Broadway route home Saturday...I can't believe I'd never noticed that before.

ashley said...

So weird, I just saw this for the very first time in Knoxville yesterday. Then I just now searched 'squid memes' on Google images and this came up. Totally weird and threw me for a loop for sure. I thought I was going crazy. Squids are my favorite animal, so I totally was diggin' this when I saw it yesterday. Kudos to whoever did it. They could totally come do one on my wall if they'd like. Haha