Siobhán Sullivan,

Editor (Art)

 

This week I have been looking further into the works of H. R. Giger, the mind behind the blockbuster films ‘Alien’ and ‘Prometheus’. Yet, despite his conceptual landscape and figure pieces being the backbone of these films and their intrigue, he is neither widely recognized or appreciated outside of the art world, nor given the credence deserved for his input to these innovative sci-fi film, that have bred a whole new interest in conceptual sci-fi genre.

Giger’s most famous works mostly consist of ink works. He manipulates the medium in a most meticulous and precise manner, creating not only a very realistic (or as realistic as his subject matter can be) effect, but also a very cold finish well suited to the sci-fi genre. The most interesting aspect of Giger’s work to me is the curious juxtaposition of the cold robotics, edges and metallics of his otherworldly figures with the raw, roundness or organic life and sexuality.

It is this theme of sexuality that provides his work with a somewhat problematic allegory for the onlookers mind. It fuses the visually appealing and the grotesque by catching the eye with his edgy patterns and detailing. Yet, he draws in the onlooker, while, at the same time, repulsing through the blatant and crude references to the sexual in his work – some more crude than others. For example, his piece informally known as the ‘Penis Landscape’ compared with his other works using a subtler means of suggesting through curvatures and connectedness within images. Even his final design for the aliens in ‘Alien’, is co-extensions of both male and female organisms, posing as this theme of the sexual in them.

I personally find Giger’s works to be fascinating and enthralling. However, I can also understand why his work is met with so many mixed discourses in the art world. I find myself likening him to marmite, as the general consensus around his work is that of love or hate.