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H.R. Giger, Alien Artist and Designer, Dead at Age 74

Posted by Soulskill on from the rest-in-peace dept.

M3.14 writes: "H. R. Giger, the Swiss artist and designer of Ridley Scott's Alien, has died, aged 74. Hans Rudolf 'Ruedi' Giger sustained injuries caused by a fall, Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung has reported (link in German — English summary available). The terrifying creature and sets he created for Ridley Scott's film earned him an Oscar for special effects in 1980. In the art world, Giger is appreciated for his wide body of work in the fantastic realism and surrealistic genres. Film work was just one of his talents. Giger is also known for his sculptures, paintings and furniture. The H.R. Giger Museum, inaugurated in the summer of 1998 in the Château St. Germain, is a four-level building complex in the historic, medieval walled city of Gruyères. It is the permanent home to many of the artist's most prominent works."

22 of 92 comments (clear)

  1. RIP by TWX · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Rest in Peace, creepy-as-hell man...

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  2. Coffins are vaguely phallic. by i+kan+reed · · Score: 5, Funny

    I suspect Geiger can appreciate one more morbid, vaguely phallic shape as he's laid to rest.

    1. Re:Coffins are vaguely phallic. by GameboyRMH · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Anyone who modded this Troll is completely unfamiliar with his work.

      Many of the things he painted were either full of phallic forms or just actual phalluses.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    2. Re:Coffins are vaguely phallic. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Many of the things he painted were either full of phallic forms or just actual phalluses.

      That was just a Phallucy.

    3. Re:Coffins are vaguely phallic. by F34nor · · Score: 2

      My favorite is the whole wall of creepy baby penis hybrids. Followed closely by the tentacle-porn bio mechanical double penetration shots.

    4. Re:Coffins are vaguely phallic. by Zan+Zu+from+Eridu · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It's not just about sex, death is just as prevalent in Giger's paintings.

      His paintings look weird because they're not just art for art's sake, they are evocations of his inner demons in the literal sense also. Giger was a rather well known occultist.

    5. Re:Coffins are vaguely phallic. by jafac · · Score: 2

      But sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar.
      (- Sigmund Freud).

      --

      These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
    6. Re:Coffins are vaguely phallic. by tippe · · Score: 2

      Does that also include the "Super Vagina" from Prometheus? Was he responsible for that? Truly disturbing...

    7. Re:Coffins are vaguely phallic. by bughunter · · Score: 2

      sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar

      And sometimes, it's a face full of alien wing-wong.

      --
      I can see the fnords!
    8. Re:Coffins are vaguely phallic. by Richy_T · · Score: 2

      It's OK. It doesn't count.

    9. Re:Coffins are vaguely phallic. by Pseudonym · · Score: 2

      One of the few Slashdot threads where discussion of tentacle-porn biomechanoid double penetration is completely on topic.

      --
      sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
  3. Aliens by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A moment of silence please. I can't think of another artist who's had such a profound visual influence on sci-fi culture.

    1. Re:Aliens by i+kan+reed · · Score: 5, Funny

      In space, everyone can hear your moment of silence.

  4. in the immortal words of giger by nimbius · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I'll pedal a bicycle made out of nightmares, straight up your ass"
    --H.R. Giger, Probably.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
    1. Re:in the immortal words of giger by Richy_T · · Score: 4, Funny

      I doubt the veracity of that as it doesn't specify a penis shaped bicycle.

  5. RIP HRG by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's a terrible day... the last non-hack artist involved in horror fiction and sci-fi has passed on. While Giger isn't taken too seriously in the fine art world he's certainly worthy of their attention. Too bad he'll likely be mostly remembered as a graphic pop artist.
     
    Rest well, old boy.

  6. Will his fame last? by CRCulver · · Score: 2

    I first really encountered Giger's art when I was collecting the Taschen "Basic Art" series of short full-colour introductions to various artists. There's a Giger one. Frankly, I think him fairly mediocre as an artist for traditional gallery exhibition. Limited range and repetitive concerns. However, he definitely made an incredible contribution to film (and LP cover art)

    I do wonder how long his popularity will last after his death. He started making an institution of himself early, and there is a Giger museum in Switzerland. However, Vasarely for example did the same four decades ago and interest in him has collapsed greatly.

    1. Re:Will his fame last? by vux984 · · Score: 2

      Luis Royo and Boris Vallejo

      soft core fantasy porn

      Giger

      hard core creepy sci-fi demonic mechanized rape porn

      They aren't even in the same ballpark.

  7. Sad by PPH · · Score: 2

    BTW, did they ever recover the original Giger cover art for ELP's Brain Salad Surgery album?

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    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Sad by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

      Goddamn, he did that, didn't he? Forgot about that cover until you mentioned it. Gave me the creeps during several college mescaline / psilocybin trips. Now I'll probably flashback on that all week.

      Thanks.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  8. Harmful Matter by Col.+Klink+(retired) · · Score: 2

    When the Jello Biafra was on trial for distributing "Harmful Matter," it was because a poster of Giger's "Penis Landscape" was included in the Frankenchrist LP (Jello Biafra actually wanted to use it as the album cover, but his bandmates rejected that idea).

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    -- Don't Tase me, bro!

  9. Re:Tombstone by vandelais · · Score: 2

    mostly....

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    Game: Player 'Donald J Trump' now has AI skill level 'experimental'.