‘Alien’ designer HR Giger dies at 74
Hans Rudolf “Ruedi” Giger (5 February 1940 – 12 May 2014) was a Swiss surrealist painter, sculptor and set designer. He was part of the special effects team that won an Academy Award for Best Achievement for Visual Effects for their design work on the film Alien. He was named to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2013.
His most distinctive stylistic innovation was that of a representation of human bodies and machines in a cold, interconnected relationship, he described as “biomechanical”. His paintings often displayed fetishistic sexual imagery. His main influences were painters Ernst Fuchs and Salvador Dalí. Giger is often referred to in pop culture, especially in science fiction and cyberpunk.[via]
According to The Guardian: HR Giger, whose “biomechanical” artwork lent Ridley Scott’s film Alien much of its terror, has died aged 74 from injuries sustained in a fall on stairs, according to the Swiss press.
“My paintings seem to make the strongest impression on people who are, well, who are crazy. A good many people think as I do. If they like my work they are creative… or they are crazy,” Giger said in an 1979 interview with Starlog magazine.
Here you can see some of them.
RIP HR Giger.
