When they painted this mural on the western face of Eureka Casino, artists Chris Nunez and Twig Sparks might have had a Frank Herbert quote in mind: “The real universe is always one step beyond logic.” Or perhaps they surmised, correctly, that the only possible way to improve upon the astonishing fantasy universe created by Herbert in his 1965 novel Dune—one we’ll be able to revisit in Denis Villeneuve’s film adaptation, coming this October—was by adding a little bit of Vegas to it. But don’t try too hard to figure out why Dune and the Dunes go together, besides the obvious. As Herbert wrote, “The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.”
1. The Dunes’ 180-foot-tall pylon sign, created by Lee Klay for Federal Sign in 1964, was in its time the tallest electronic sign in the world. Sadly, it was lost with the implosion of the Dunes in 1993, but a smaller version of the sign lives on at the Neon Museum.
2. In Herbert’s novel, sandworms are massive creatures that live in the sands of the planet Arrakis. They attack all rhythmic vibrations, even footsteps. Only the Fremen tribespeople—whose exposure to Arrakis’ native spice Melange has turned their eyes blue—know how to encounter a sandworm and live.
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