Prime Time Replay:
H. R. Giger
on His Designs for Alien and Species
MsgId: *infinities(10)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:02:27 EDT 1996
From: melanie At: 206.80.181.187
Good evening, and welcome all to Infinities. Tonite our guest is H. R. Giger. H.R. Giger is best known for his designs for the ALIEN films (for which he won an Oscar), and most recently for designs for SPECIES. The Swiss artist's work includes painting, sculpture, design, books--a master of multi-media. He joins us tonite from his home in Switzerland to discuss his intriguing and controversial work.Giger's Sci-Fi world of biomechanoid creatures has been likened to the medieval fanatasies of Hieronymus Bosch and the Surrealism of Salvador Dali. We're very glad to have you with us Herr Giger.
MsgId: *infinities(11)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:03:15 EDT 1996
From: HR_Giger At: 168.100.204.58
Yes, I am eager to begin.
MsgId: *infinities(12)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:04:01 EDT 1996
From: melanie At: 206.80.181.187
Your work has always been controversial. What do you think are the elements in it which arouse such strong feelings?
MsgId: *infinities(13)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:05:03 EDT 1996
From: HR_Giger At: 168.100.204.58
Controversial. The duality of everything inspires the vision that makes the work strong.
MsgId: *infinities(14)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:06:00 EDT 1996
From: melanie At: 206.80.181.187
Tell us a little about "duality of vision."
MsgId: *infinities(15)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:06:42 EDT 1996
From: HR_Giger At: 168.100.204.58
The archetypes in my paintings --largely derived from Jung-- are at work. People have said they can see in my paintings many different archetypes. This is the reason why people respond so strongly -- so emotionally. These archetypes often exist as hidden feelings within themselves, and my paintings bring them to the surface.Now I will address issue of duality. Take flowers. For a lot of people, flowers are May flowers --beautiful. But my flowers are evil. They eat human flesh.
MsgId: *infinities(18)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:08:42 EDT 1996
From: melanie At: 206.80.181.187
You mention Jung. Much of your work involves fantasy. Fairy-tale fantasies play a vital role in the shaping of a child's thoughts and imagination. What do you think is the role of science-fiction fantasies for an adult?
MsgId: *infinities(21)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:11:45 EDT 1996
From: HR_Giger At: 168.100.204.58
Science fiction for an adult is intriguing because it leaves the end open. Fairy tales, on the other hand, have a good ending. These are for children.
MsgId: *infinities(20)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:11:10 EDT 1996
From: melanie At: 206.80.181.187
Do you feel, then, that for adults, fantasy is more closely connected to the darker side of our nature?
MsgId: *infinities(22)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:12:46 EDT 1996
From: HR_Giger At: 168.100.204.58
Yes, for adults --not for all, but certainly for me--fantasy is connected to the dark side of our nature.
MsgId: *infinities(23)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:14:26 EDT 1996
From: melanie At: 206.80.181.187
Do you think that's why adults respond so strongly to your work? Do you feel they need to connect back to the sense of fantasy that they had as children--even if the adult fantasy might not always have a happy ending?
MsgId: *infinities(24)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:18:21 EDT 1996
From: HR_Giger At: 168.100.204.58
Yes, I am tapping the adult's urge to experience, but rendering more palatable for them.
MsgId: *infinities(25)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:20:26 EDT 1996
From: melanie At: 206.80.181.187
How did your love of fantasy begin? What were your primary influences as a child that have shaped your work?
MsgId: *infinities(27)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:23:07 EDT 1996
From: HR_Giger At: 168.100.204.58
My father was a pharmacist, and when I was child, we got a human skull in a package. I took the head and put it in my room. It was mine. I was completely fascinated that I could have the head of someone who had been alive before. I was just six years old. Jean Cocteau created images of Beauty and the Beast, and I saw still of the film in Life magazine. This was so important --human arms were coming out of walls. Again, the duality. It was mysterious and disturbing --I was about age 4 or 5.
MsgId: *infinities(29)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:25:03 EDT 1996
From: melanie At: 206.80.181.187
Skulls and skeletons often appear in your work. Are there other memories, objects, incidents you remember that have become recurring themes?
MsgId: *infinities(33)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:29:03 EDT 1996
From: melanie At: 206.80.181.187
While we're on the subject of films: You have worked on many, and in some cases "Hollywood" has altered your original vision. This makes some of your fans furious. How do you feel about this as an artist?
MsgId: *infinities(34)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:33:19 EDT 1996
From: HR_Giger At: 168.100.204.58
After I do my design, I have no control once it goes to Hollywood. With Alien it was different. I did the design in Switzerland, and then I went to England to work with Ridley Scott, the director, and I worked with my own hands to model the Alien myself.
MsgId: *infinities(37)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:35:33 EDT 1996
From: melanie At: 206.80.181.187
Since you lose some measure of control, have you considered doing a film yourself--serving as producer? Is that something that appeals to you?
MsgId: *infinities(39)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:37:43 EDT 1996
From: HR_Giger At: 168.100.204.58
Yes, I have a real movie. The story was written by me. The name is The Cross and the Blade.
MsgId: *infinities(41)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:40:59 EDT 1996
From: melanie At: 206.80.181.187
People hotly debate the relationship between (wo)men and machines in your work--everyone seems to have their own opinions and interpretations. How do you explain this relationship?
MsgId: *infinities(42)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:45:04 EDT 1996
From: HR_Giger At: 168.100.204.58
Just as we have transparent watches and motors (in the form of models like the Swatch Watch), we can also have transparent men and women. When you can look through and see the muscles working, the individual becomes closer and closer to machine. In the science fiction film, Species, I created a transparent women. She was called Sil.By the way,.I noticed there are some questions for me on the Infinities bulletin board. I will try to answer some:
"Hi, Im A HUGE fan and i was wondering when your bar would be opening in the states??"
The answer is, I don't know. But I will be opening a museum in Switzerland in an old castle. The castle will have a train --like a ghost train-- and it will take you through the castle."Hello,Giger.. And Thank you for bringing out those marvellous and bizarre pictures you bring out. I just wonder.... Wherever do you get the inspiration to create such artwork?"Where do I get my inspiration? This is always the first question. From my brain: from what I read, and dream, and feel, everything, even pain. Even this question is inspiration."For which artists did you design record sleeves ? I have several of them, but I could be missing some."The two big ones were for Debby Harry and Emerson, Lake and Palmer."Will the train you are planning in the museum be anything like the planned train of 'Species' ?"The answer is no. The train at the castle is like a ghost ride --two people can sit side by side and look at the paintings."I am curious about your religion. Not that it matters, but I have noticed many 'satanic' symbols in your paintings. What do they mean?"I am not religious --I've seen these images before, maybe in dreams, or maybe in another existence.
MsgId: *infinities(45)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:48:40 EDT 1996
From: melanie At: 206.80.181.187
When you work on an album cover, does the music inspire your design or the personality of the artist? Or a bit of both?
MsgId: *infinities(47)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:50:43 EDT 1996
From: HR_Giger At: 168.100.204.58
The music usually DOES NOT inspire the design for my album cover, because the music is generally not finished while I am designing the cover. So I mostly listen to records the group has done before. I prefer the music of the jazz musician Miles Davis; I would have loved to have made a cover for him but it's too late.
MsgId: *infinities(49)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:53:27 EDT 1996
From: melanie At: 206.80.181.187
You've worked in many different media. Are you searching for one perfect medium? Or trying them all?
MsgId: *infinities(51)
Date: Sun Oct 13 19:57:45 EDT 1996
From: HR_Giger At: 168.100.204.58
My obsessions are difficult to express in just one medium. Sometimes they require music, sometimes, film, sometimes writing --often sculting or painting or sketching. For each project, for each obsession, I look for the right medim.
MsgId: *infinities(52)
Date: Sun Oct 13 20:01:30 EDT 1996
From: HR_Giger At: 168.100.204.58
A number of people on the board have asked about the availability of my movies. The answer is --they are still somewhere in the future. I would like to create a society for the realization of Giger Projects. I would like to find a hundred rich people to help bring all these projects to fruition. I would like another, larger club, for everybody else.Right now, my fans in America can see some of my paintings and sculpture in the Morpheus Gallery in Los Angeles.
MsgId: *infinities(54)
Date: Sun Oct 13 20:04:53 EDT 1996
From: melanie At: 206.80.181.187
This has been a fascinating hour. Thanks so much Herr Giger for joining us. And a special thanks to the audience for coming up with such great questions. See you next Sunday!
MsgId: *infinities(56)
Date: Sun Oct 13 20:07:24 EDT 1996
From: HR_Giger At: 168.100.204.58
Good-bye, it is been fun. By the way --you can also see some of my work this month in the OMNI Art Gallery, and link from there to Morpheous on the Internet. Goodnight!!
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