My first foray into the world of H.R. Giger happened in 1985. A good friend of mine who went under the affectionate monicker of ‘Mick The Wiz’, (due to his dabbling in all things that go bump in the night and his fondness for Aleister Crowley) - bought for my birthday Giger’s Necronomicon II book.
I remember turning the pages of that book and literally being blown to hell at the sheer majesty and darkness at the artwork before me. It was all so spellbinding and mezmerising. I had never seen anything like that and still to this day, Giger is unparalleled.
Having been a fan all these years, two years ago I approached Giger’s manager with an offer to re-do the official Giger website. I was shocked when I got a response from his manager Les Barany who had looked over some of my work and was to speak to Giger about us working together on a new site.
After some emails back and forth… it didn’t all pan out and the same (horrid) site remained, but I felt I had come close to working with one of my heroes. Heck, I would do the site for free if need be because just to be working for someone so artistically dark and amazing - would have been a dream come true.
But I digress. (I do that alot!)
There is a new documentary titled ‘H.R. Giger Revealed’.
Whether it’s Ridley Scott’s award-winning Alien (based on his work Necronom IV) or the artwork for Debbie Harry’s solo album, Celtic Frost’s albums or the obscenity-lawsuit attracting cover for the Dead Kennedy’s Frankenchrist, we have all at one time or another been exposed to the dark and wonderfully twisted world of Swiss painter, sculptor and set designer Hans Ruedi Giger.
Documentary director David Jahn started work as an assistant at Giger’s studio in Zürich in 2000. After his departure back to the Czech Republic he co-operated with Giger as an initiator and consultee of the Prague exhibition which took place 14th April – 13th September 2005 at the National Technical Museum.
Jahn proposed to Giger to produce a DVD that would map his work and current life. The shoot took place at Giger’s studio in Zürich and in Gruyéres, where the H.R. Giger museum and bar is located.
Footage includes an interview with Austrian artist Ernst Fuchs, Debbie Harry (Blondie) recounting how their collaboration came about, Ridley Scott’s candid description of the moment he saw Necronomicon and realised his search for the perfect ‘Alien’ had ended and numerous interviews with fellow artists at the openings of his Paris and Prague exhibitions.
Initially his monochromatic canvasses depicting surreal, nightmarish dreamscapes (often displaying fetishistic, sexual imagery which have garnered him a large following in the gothic, occult and dark-burlesque scenes) were predominantly created by airbrush whereas later work has been created using markers, ink and pastel colours. His most distinctive stylistic innovation is that of a representation of human bodies and machines in a cold, interconnected relationship described as biomechanical. Often the result of visions he has had through the sleep disorder known as night-terrors, it is no wonder that film makers from the darker end of the spectrum (Alien, Dune, Poltergeist II, Species) have so often sought to collaborate with him when looking to achieve their vision.
The authors do not avoid the particular developmental periods of Giger’s work, however, the main purpose was not to create the artist’s biography. What they have achieved is an authentic perspective on the peculiar world of this ground breaking Swiss artist.
Vox Populi
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