Giger's Alien sculpture banned from Exhibition

[Dave]

from Ananova

Swiss town bans Alien monster

The artist who designed the Alien monster has been ordered to remove a model of it from outside of a museum of his work.

Councillors in Gruyeres, Switzerland, decided the mucus-dripping monster was not a good advert for the tourist town's image.

Local artist H R Giger, who designed the aliens for all four sci-fi horror films, put the creature up on a wall outside the museum to attract visitors.

Gruyeres mayor Christian Bussard said: "The council is not harassing an internationally recognised artist and we agree his work is of superior quality, if not to everyone's taste.

"We like him and want him to stay. It's just that sometimes you need to put him back on the right track."

Giger said: "I need this type of sculpture to be outside so visitors will stop and look and then maybe come into the museum."

Isn't the monster the thing he is internationally famous for? I have seen other drawings by him, but if I went to an exhibition of his work and the Alien was not there, I think I'd expect my money back.

[phase38]

Yeah.. so would I!

The main reason Id go to a Giger viewing was to see his "Alien" development...

Apparantly he got in trouble with Customs at an airport cos he had drawings and paintings of his ideas for Alien... they thought they were photos.. cos he uses airbrushing techniques to produce almost photo-realistic effects...

In the end the airport got an art expert in to confirm they were paintings !

[I, Brian]

A bizarre decision - but I guess the councillors don't know what Giger's famous for?

[phase38]

Originally Posted by I, Brian

A bizarre decision - but I guess the councillors don't know what Giger's famous for?

Could be..

His work is great though... a little too sexual at times. Why do surrealists like him and Salvador Dali have an obsession with sexual content? Strange....

[dwndrgn]

Originally Posted by phase38

Could be..

His work is great though... a little too sexual at times. Why do surrealists like him and Salvador Dali have an obsession with sexual content? Strange....

Everyone has an obsession with sexual content. Some obsess with making everything more explicit, some obsess with hiding it in there so only few will notice, some obsess with sterilizing everything so that there is no sexual content...It's all in degrees.

People also argue that creative people are more open to their emotions and try to live life to its fullest...thus many things get amplified by their passion for life (also an argument as to why so many creative people end up with drug and alcohol abuse issues).

[phase38]

.....interesting. Never looked at it that way....

[Paige Turner]

I've always thought of the Alien designs as the least objectionable of Geiger's work. A lot of his "sexually-oriented" stuff ventures toward the grotesque. I would think that prudish bureaucrats would be more bothered by that than by a (world-famous) slimy monster.

Then again, this is the Chronic. We LOVE slimy monsters.

[Nesacat]

Am with Paige on this. Compared to some of Giger's other work the Alien belongs in the kiddie's section.

I personally like the acid-dripping creature very much indeed and would have been quite upset not to have seen it in a museum dedicated to Giger's work.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by phase38

Could be..

His work is great though... a little too sexual at times. Why do surrealists like him and Salvador Dali have an obsession with sexual content? Strange....

Have you ever read any of the surrealist manifestoes? Surrealism deals with the unconscious urges and the subconscious blending of symbols without (purportedly) a conscious "censor", which is often what makes their work disturbing and uncomfortable for most: they bring to the fore the things that most people are socialized into repressing or denying about their own chaotic ideas and impulses. As an enormous amount of our energy (artistic creative energy as well as other types) is tied in with sexuality in one way or another, it's going to be a major theme within surrealist art in any medium.

Here's a little more on this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrealist_Manifesto

http://surrealists.classifieds4u.co.uk/manifesto.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrealism

It is important to understand that the early surrealists were very much influenced by what was going on with the burgeoning art of psychoanalysis, as Freud was still far from accepted at that point by the mainstream, albeit he was gradually making an impact. There was also a reaction against the excessively prudish aspects of the 19th century, as well; and even a bit of a hysterical reaction to the horrors that were involved in the Great War. All of these continue, in one form or another, to influence surrealism to this day, if only because of the impact of the earlier artists on our contemporaries.

[steve12553]

Didn't Giger do the Guild Steersman for David Lynch's "Dune"? That seem to ring a bell, but I don't have the time to look it up this morning.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by steve12553

Didn't Giger do the Guild Steersman for David Lynch's "Dune"? That seem to ring a bell, but I don't have the time to look it up this morning.

No, not according to Giger's official website. His Harkonnen design was not used in the end....

http://www.hrgiger.com/

There's a listing for all his film work here... and he's apparently offering rewards for some of his artwork that has changed hands, as he wants to rephotograph some of it...

[steve12553]

I looked it up later. Giger's Dune stuff was for an earlier unproduced version of Dune. It could have been very interesting.

[Riselka]

Giger designed the Sil creature for the film "Species", as well. I believe I heard him say in an interview that he was happier with his design for her than he was for the creature from "Alien".

[Epic Universe]

Ridiculous.

[Milk]

Originally Posted by phase38

Could be..

His work is great though... a little too sexual at times. Why do surrealists like him and Salvador Dali have an obsession with sexual content? Strange....

I wouldnt limit this to the surealist movement, I would just say its an artist, creative thing.

Judging the first Alien movie by itself, its completely riddled with sexual iconagraphy. For instance: A phallic squid looking face-hugger.. Look at an image of one, it literally has testicular sacs on each side of a long proboscus ( spelling). It's sole purpose is to rape.

Now this idea has nothing to do with the other Alien movies, which had very little to do with the first movie, whatsoever. The second movie and the ones that followed were more of a spin-off to the movie Rambo then a sequal to the Alien.

Basically what the first Alien movie did was take the old horror movie monsters and read between the lines. King Kong grabbed a human female for what? The creature of the black lagoon stole a lady, why? In another case the wolfman stole the lady, why? Dracula has his clutches on the lady.. to do what? What was he gonna do to her?

Alien spelled it out in big red letters, that giant monster with the phalllic looking head? and all those dildos on its back? Its going to rape you. The damsel in distress? You, me, anyone, the Alien isnt picky.