Ecce Animal, A Human Skull Made of Cocaine

Artist and designer Diddo has created “Ecce Animal,” a human skull made entirely of compression molded cocaine and gelatin. The piece speaks to human nature and self control:

Once we were animals.
Like any other, we lived in an environment of fear and want.
Then, we became ‘human’ and aspired to be better.
We learned to control our environment but the fear stayed,
because we never learned to control ourselves.

It is frightening to look at the face of our animal side laid bare
by comfortable excess; the spoils of its aggression.

But what exactly is it about this image that is so confronting?
Is it this division in our idea of self?
Or is it a realization that though we have mastered the outside world,
we will always remain subservient to our inner selves.