HR
GIGER MUSEUM & BAR
Macabre Alien Fantasy in Medieval Gruyères
I
recall in 1980 after standing in a long line for a several hours, being
terrified
and amazed
at the horrific and stunningly original monsters
and haunting atmosphere of Ridley Scott’s outer space horror opera “Alien” -
my first introduction to the work of Swiss fantacist artist HR Giger.
I had the small privilege of being able to examine up-close one of the
fantastic props from the movie, the giant dead alien spaceship pilot
fossilized in his chair in the skeletal womb of the cavernous stranded
spacecraft turned alien egg incubator. As promotion for the movie premier,
the huge prop made of carved Styrofoam was on display outside the Egyptian
theater in Hollywood. A few days after the opening, a column of black
smoke rose into the sky over the boulevard of broken dreams. The prop
had caught fire, probably lit by some careless firebug vandal and burned
to a melted puddle of foam plastic. Fortunately, a miniature model of
that alien pilot model and other gruesome props and artifacts from that
film and the fascinating collection of HR Giger’s
art can be found in Switzerland.
In 1990,
HR Giger was invited to show his work at the small fantasy art gallery
located
in the medieval castle of Gruyères, Switzerland.
Mr Giger fell in love with the town, and perhaps even more with the millions
of visitors who come to the quaint medieval town every year for the cheese
and the nearby chocolate factory (see Nestle-Cailler
Factory Tour). Aside
from an artist of macabre genius working with the grapic artist’s
airbrush, like Picasso, Dali, and Magritte before him, HR Giger is also
no small devotee of self promotion. With much of his work stored in a
warehouse, the village of Gruyere seemed the perfect place to open a
museum of his unique art. He acquired the Chateau St Germain, a mediavel
house just outside the entrance of Gruyere’s castle (see Castle
of the Counts of Gruyere).
The HR Giger
Museum opened in 1998, presenting the artist’s grotesque visions of surrealist bio-mechanical humanoids,
where flesh and machine join in sexual obsession, fantastical cityscapes,
the stuff of haunting nightmares, and horrific creatures that have captured
the fascination of devotees around the world. Among the museum’s
exhibits are operating props for the “Alien” movie with articulating
puppeteer cables to operate the monster's extending mandible still attached,
perhaps an ironic real world realization of Giger’s joining of
organic creature and machine. But Giger’s oeuvre goes far beyond
this familiar icon, paintings, sculptures, furniture, and interior design
fill three floors of black walls with the mysterious, shocking and fascinating
around every corner. HR Giger’s Oscar for his work on “Alien” is
on display here, too and upon entering, Giger's ghost like figure stares
down into your eyes daring you to journey into his world.
HR Giger Museum Bar
If viewing
HR Giger’s imagination isn’t enough, why not
be swallowed by it. Across from the museum entrance is the HR Giger Bar,
where a beer, alcoholic libation or meal can be ingested within the belly
of some fantastical alien creature. Giger designed a bar in his hometown
of Chur on the other end of Switzerland (see Giger Bar Chur) rather in
the form of a spacecraft cafe, of crisp futurist silver steel and black.
The HR Giger Museum bar in Gruyeres, which Giger built much of himself,
is a sculptural experience of white fossilized skeletal alien innards,
crossing vertebrae arches over skeletal plate “Dune” inspired “Harkonnen” bar
chairs, of boney spinal cord backs much like the world of that mummified
giant space pilot now long vanished in black smoke. The design seems
melded to the ancient castle walls with nooks of baby heads looking out
on the tourist village outside.
Visiting HR Giger Museum
The
Museum HR Giger in Gruyeres is open every day 10am to 6pm April to
October.
1pm to
5 pm Tuesday to Friday in the winter months November
to March. The HR Giger Bar is open from 10am to 8:30pm daily. Both are
closed on Mondays during winter. Admission for adults is 12.50 CHF (€8.20),
Students and Seniors 8.50 CHF and children 4 CHF. A combined ticket
for the HR Giger Museum and the Gruyere Castle is available for 14 CHF.
There is no age restriction for the museum and kids will certainly find
HR Giger’s work fascinating, but be warned of the sexual and near
pornographic themes on display – lest you find bizarre
creatures taped to the refrigerator as your budding artists are
inspired to explore their
own fantastic nightmares. © Bargain
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