Entertainment

H.R. Giger Dies at 74

by Kadeen Griffiths

H.R. Giger has died from injuries sustained after a fall on Tuesday, May 13. He was 74 years old. The news was announced to The Associated Press by Sandra Mivelaz, administrator of the H.R. Giger museum in Gruyeres, Switzerland. Giger is a Swiss artist who designed the monster in Alien, the Ridley Scott sci-fi horror film that came out in 1979.

He was born Hans Rudolf Giger in Chur, Switzerland and studied architecture and industrial design at Zürich's School of Applied Arts. It was after his book, Necronomicon, caught the attention of Ridley Scott that Giger was hired to produce concept art for the film. The alien itself was based on a print named Necronom IV and the design earned him an Oscar in 1980.

Giger was best known for an artistic style he called "biomechanical", which featured human bodies and machines coldly interconnected. He drew his influence from Ernst Fuchs, Salvador Dalí, and H.P. Lovecraft and his work was featured both on album covers and in interior design — including the short-lived Tokyo Giger Bar and the still-existent Swiss Giger Bars. His designs have also inspired video games: Dark Seed and its sequel Dark Seed II.

In addition to the creature, Giger's work on Alien also included the derelict ship, the alien eggs, the face-huggers that hatched from them, the infant alien that burst from John Hurt's chest, and the Space Jockeys that took focus during Ridley Scott's Prometheus. The influence he has had on the science fiction genre has been profound and Twitter is already awash with sadness and support.

Image: Wikipedia Commons