H.R. Giger, the Swiss painter who designed the iconic creature from Alien, died Monday in a Zürich hospital from injuries sustained in a fall at his home. He was 74.
Giger’s distinctive style, which he described as “biomechanical,” was a surrealistic blend of body parts and machines. In 1973, Giger was commissioned to do set and character designs for Alejandro Jodorowsky’s ill-fated Dune adaptation. While the film never got past the planning stages, Giger’s designs can be seen in Jodorowsky’s Dune, a recent documentary about the project. Dune screenwriter Dan O’Bannon was both impressed and disturbed by Giger’s paintings, and when he and Ridley Scott were working on Alien, they tuned to Giger for inspiration. Giger’s painting Necronom IV was used as the basis for the creature.
In addition to his work on the Alien films, Giger worked on Species and redesigned the Batmobile for Batman & Robin (though his contributions were ultimately unused in the film). He also designed album covers for Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Danzig, the Dead Kennedys, and many others.
