The new Giger Bar in the Chateau St. Germain - the little HR Giger ...

The new Giger Bar in the Chateau St. GermainHR Giger - undoubtedly, most peopleassociate this name to dark horrorscenarios and obscure surrealisticlandscapes and objects like no other.It has been almost 5 years that wevisited the master of fantastic art andpresented him to our readers. Backin June 1998 he had just opened the"Museum HR Giger". This installationin the Chateau St. Germain inGruyeres, Switzerland, has thelargest and most comprehensive collectionof known and unknownworks of the Swiss artist on showsince then. Large format pictures,sculptures - every art object that themaster himself had created or collecteduntil then.the artist smiles naughtily, "whichresembled some kind of twistedbone constructions." At the end ofthe 1970s Giger finally worked ondesigns for the movie "Dune" andshort time after that he founded anatelier for furniture constructionwith a partner. At this time he crepdfcreated by www.littlegiger.comHowever, those who believed thatGiger had fulfilled his life longdream and would draw back to bea satisfied pensioner were completelywrong. Let us look back:After young Hans Ruedi's mainteacher at the art college in Zurichhad told him many times "Giger,stop doing such ill shapes thatlook like cow's throats!", the careerof the Swiss artist could almostbe guessed already. "I alreadyhad a preference for organicArt Nouveau shapes back then",AAA 72

One vertebra after the other was modeled on the ceilingand adapted to the colors of the castle walls. Inthe background you can see Giger's Chovel Chairs of1999 as well as one Harkonnen table with glass topthe Oscar in Los Angeles for "BestAchievement for Visual Effects" inthe design of the "Alien" for thecult movie of the same name bydirector Ridley Scott - and HRGiger became a cult person himself.He did designs for PoltergeistII, Alien III and Species, the recordcovers for Debbie Harry andEmerson, Lake and Palmer wereelected among the 100 best designsof musical history. In themeantime, his work fills almost 20books, there are sculptures, lithographs,furniture and the designsand projects that have not beenimplemented yet are filling manyfiles.Inviting... or rather not? 8 Harkonnen chairs arestanding guard at the barated the famous Harkonnen chair,a piece of furniture that looked asif it were made out of skeletonsbut which could be used as achair. The rest is history. On 14April 1980, about 2 years after hehad been given the order to workon a Science Fiction horror moviethat was to become a worldwidesuccess, HR Giger was grantedOne project that had been sleepingin the "safe of ideas" of theSwiss artist for long was the implementationof a bar designed in thetypical Giger style. 1988 the projectwas to become reality and thefirst HR Giger Bar with 4 floorswas to open in Tokyo. Unfortunately,due to strict building legislation,many designs of the artistcould not be implemented and sothe bar was not licensed to use thename "HR Giger". In the meantime,the bar is closed. It took fourmore years until the first officialGiger Bar opened in the hometown of the Alien creator. We werethere for the opening and saw thedesigns of all the rooms. Everythingis made in the biomechani-"Alien Fondue" - rather rare guests in HR Giger's bar... zinc lithography,25 x 33.5cm, 100 copiesThe drawing showshow the workswere implementedexactly accordingto HR Giger's plansthis time, penciland felt pen on paper21 x 15 cmThe fibre glass skeletons adapt seamlessly to thehistorical masonryEach detail shows the master's handcal style, you feel as if you wereentering another world. However,this bar was still something of acompromise, because the masterhad to stick to the requirements ofthe given facilities - and Gigerwanted more.It took three years of work until this uniquework of art had been finishedOn the right side you can see the famous Harkonnenchairs - the wood framed window almostseems like a alien objectAAA 73The almost 400 years old castle ofSaint-Germain where Gigeropened his museum almost at thesame time offered much better opportunitiesto realize his ideas. . It

The associatedshop offerseverything tofulfill your dreamsof yourown "Giger"took 3 years, from the planningstage to the opening celebrationon the 12th of April 2003, until the"Museum HR Giger Bar" had beencompleted which offers an idealcompletion of the museum itself.Giger has skillfully managed to fitall components to the vaults of the400 year old historic castle and tointegrate them.Right from the start the whole projectwas conceived to form a coherentlooking integrated whole.In order to implement this, all elementsof the bar had to be madeout of a material that would looklike gray stone. In the end, the decisionwas made to use a mixtureof fibre glass and cement. As HRGiger had already completed thedesigns, the workers started toimplement the firstmould for the roomsas well as the new furniture.Months of intensivework went by before thefirst piece of furniturecould be integrated withthe help of RonaldBrandt and Wolfgang Holz. RogerCottier, the architect of the museum,assisted in the whole process.What is now waiting for the visitorsis the probably most perfectentrance into the world of HRGiger that exists at present. Skeletonscover the walls up to the 4meter high church-like ceiling.You get the feeling that you havelanded right inside the stomach ofsome beast, because the boneslook so realistic. No trace ofwarmth, everything is cool graythat fits perfectly to the rest of thewalls. No carpet to disturb theeye, but there is a stone floor withtypical Giger ornaments. Everythingfits together and it feels likethe monster could come dashingaround the corner at any moment.The room is 70 x 100 meters largeand can hold up to 70 Giger fansAAA 74who may sit down in those not soinviting chairs with their high,skeleton-like back-rests - calledHarkonnen-chairs. They will beastonished about the fact thatthese are quite comfortable andreally make you want to stay,while your eyes constantly findnew details on the walls, the ceilingand the floor.HR Giger has certainly made oneof his dreams (or should we saynightmares) cometrue here. For thefirst time, there wereno deceptions or limits likewhen he worked at the"Alien", when he often satin his hotel room frustratedbecause once againone of his designs had to bechanged or completely reworked.Also, there were no problems withbuilding regulations this time - thisGiger Bar has been created exactlyaccording to the master's plans.And now? What is coming next?HR Giger will certainly not stayidle - he never has. He has alwaysworked on sculptures inparallel, like the huge shoes onthe miniature island Harakka infront of the coast of Finland orthe biomechanoid sculpture thathe has created as a trophy for theWoodstock Body & Arts Festival.Moreover, there is his own jewelryseries and he is also workingon the designs for a new Europeanmovie. In the second half ofthe year, a new exhibition is goingto captivate visitors from nearand far.

It goes without saying that we willinform our readers about it in time.For more information about HRGiger himself as well as his projectsand work, please go to:www.hrgiger.comThe new Giger Bar as well as theHR Giger museum are situated inthe Chateau Saint-Germain:Chateau Saint-GermainMusee HR GigerCH-1663 Gruyeresphone: (+41) 26/921 22 00Fax (+41)26/921 22 11opening hours:April through OctoberMon-Sun 10:00 to 18:00 hrsNovember through March:Tue-Fri 11:00 to 17:00 hrsSat + Sun 10:00 to 18:00 hrsMondays closedThe Giger Bar in the artist's hometown Chur is located inside theKalchbühl Centerphone: (+41) 81/253 75 06...but whenthe nightfalls, thetrue naturestands outThe entrance hall already gets the visitors in themood for GigerWelcome - everything looks quite nice in thebright sunlight.

The new Giger Bar in the Chateau St. Germain - the little HR Giger ...

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