Returned and recuperating! (image intensive)
Hello All!
I'll try to keep this under epic length, but I have a lot to share. Phew, what a trip! Fast and frantic, but quite enjoyable indeed. We landed in Frankfurt, Germany and then rented a car (bless whoever made the GPS, what a useful tool) and headed south to Heidelberg to have lunch with a friend. It's a cool medieval town complete with cobblestone streets and a castle looming overhead. Late that night we arrived in Yverdon Les Bains, the town where the hotel and museum was.
Yverdon Les Bains, Pestalozzi Place (it seemed sort of like a market square surrounded by shops and cafes):
The Maison d'Ailleurs (the House of Elsewhere), the museum front:
The museum is deceivingly large, with four floors for exhibition. They are now in the midst of construction, building a bridge to the second floor of that cafe to the left, enabling them to have multiple exhibits at the same time.
We decided to shoot out to the H.R. Giger museum in Gruyere, about an hour or so towards the center of Switzerland. It's a beautiful drive with lots of pastoral scenes, tiled ancient houses... everything picture perfect.
The hills started getting larger and larger, until it looked more like one might expect to see in Switzerland. We found ourself outside Gruyere, a medieval walled town on top of a hill. It's a real time warp! One has to park at the base and take a small path up the hill, passing small pastures with sheep and chicken grazing.
Inside the walls is a cozy village, complete with a castle, ringing bells, cobblestone streets and all the fondue you can eat (warning: not a good idea!!):
This is all a bit of a setup, because only a few blocks down you'll stumble upon the H.R. Giger bar and museum, which is quite the contrast. I later learned that Giger has always dreamed of owning a castle, so it's easy to see why he'd chose this area. He also wants a train, we can only hope that wish is granted as well.
First, we went for refreshments at the Giger bar, entirely decorated in his classic Alien-esque biomechanical style. Vaulted vertebrae ceilings, skeletal thrones, even custom floor tiles.
Bev models a throne:
Aside from the bar and a few sculptures outside the museum, photos were not allowed. Sufficed to say, it was very thorough and contained a lot of his classic paintings and sculptures, including sketches and full suits from the Aliens movies. What surprised me the most was that a number of his paintings were massive mural-like sizes. I guess from seeing them in books for a couple decades, I've come used to them being small in size.
Time to return back to Yverdon and get ready for opening night. The museum, as large was it was with around 400 or so pieces on exhibit, was packed! The concept was to broaden the vision to artists and artistic approaches not normally associated with the classic Lovecraftian imagery. I would describe a majority to be more of a 'cartoon' nature, even using a bit of humor in the artwork. So, only a handful were representing that traditional angle, I was honored to help represent the old guard. Not only were there paintings, but eerie music, spoken word and several films and documentaries on loop in viewing areas. One of my favorite parts was a couple of glass display tables with a complete collection of the artifacts that would have been present in the Call of Cthulhu short story. Everything from newspaper articles to ship logs, it was extremely thorough and authentic looking. I was told later that there was one true piece in the collection, a postcard from Lovecraft himself!
Patrick Gyger, the museum director, led us though the maze of art and people to the four paintings. I was doubly honored to see that my artwork was exhibited adjacent to Giger's works, himself. Honored and intimidated is more like it! It was interesting to see my art after a couple months, and work always looks better with a mat and frame. I thought they looked quite nice, though I feel like I've grown since I've done them... I guess that's to be expected if I am to keep developing.
Here I am am, sizing up my rival.
And, me explaining that I am not Mr. Giger:
I found it very interesting to see how other artists approached the same entries from the Commonplace book. One artist also chose "Azathoth", and drew a cartoon of a soccer player with an "Azathoth" jersey. I also got to meet some interesting people there, including the director of the Giger museum. After the show, a nice dinner was provided for all involved. It was a good opportunity to get to know people better and share our experiences.
More images of the exhibit itself can be seen at these two flickr galleries:
www.flickr.com/photos/17019577@N08/
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/17313207@N06/" target="_blank"> www.flickr.com/photos/17313207@N06/
The next morning we said out goodbyes and set off for France. Here I am with Patrick Gyger, the Maison d'Ailleurs director. If Patrick hadn't somehow found my site and invited me, I wouldn't have had this wonderful experience:
The image on the right was the official graphic for the show, I find it quite striking, but it is best not to stare at it directly for too long.
We then drove west through steep mountains across the border into France and then Paris, itself. To make up for missing Halloween, we visited the Catacombs and Notre Dame cathedral. A fair exchange, I thought. I found the catacombs to be rather surreal, and I couldn't fully comprehend the vastness of the remains. We're talking millions of skulls and bones along miles of tunnels. It makes any Warhammer illustrations look like a Garfield cartoon.
The tunnels, which were once mines under the city, later became a mass tomb to deal with the overflow of bodies due to the plague. The long bones and skulls form walls about 4-5 feet high, and all the smaller bones are placed behind the retaining walls. The skulls are often arranged in various patterns or designs.
Notre Dame was impressively huge and ornate. I felt a bit sorry for those that were there to worship, as the hordes of tourists must be intensely distracting and diluting. I was told that they close off some parts for services, which made me feel a bit better. We were too late to go upstairs and see the gargoyles up close, but, on an optimistic note, because that day was nonstop rain we got to see the rain spouts doing what they were meant to do.
We saw saw several reliquaries, jewel encrusted pieces containing remnants of saints and other servants of the church. This looked like an engraved arm bone:
Though I didn't buy any souvenirs, we were rear-ended by a Parisian taxi cab. Just a bit of local flavor to take with us. The cabs, scooters and bikes outdid any crazy homicidal Boston or New York driving that I have ever seen. With that, we headed north to castle country. Pierrefonds, to be exact, the most perfect example of a castle, in my opinion. In order to storm it, you'd have to travel a ramp that encircles the entire structure, which involves about five big gates and portcullus, as well as a treacherously deep moat. All the while along is an exhausting number of arrow slits. It's far from giving anyone a sporting chance! I even saw a few cannonballs lodged into the outer walls, looking rather ineffective.
If I had been able to read French, I would have known to not pet the gargoyles:
The drawbridge and final gate into the courtyard.
From there, we headed though Belgium and on to the Netherlands for our final nights in Europe. Though it involved a lot of driving, we had a wonderful time. It was exactly what I was looking for, I wanted some stimulation by being immersed in different cultures and locations. I enjoyed the challenge of trying to communicate with people and navigate unfamiliar highways and streets (except for perhaps the wee hours of the night when I just wanted to sleep).
I'd easily say that the trip was a success in all ways, and I couldn't help but think of you guys and how much your help and support meant. Next up, aside from getting over jet-lag, we're back to the Cthulhu statue. I hope you'll join me.
sincerely,
~Paul
I'll try to keep this under epic length, but I have a lot to share. Phew, what a trip! Fast and frantic, but quite enjoyable indeed. We landed in Frankfurt, Germany and then rented a car (bless whoever made the GPS, what a useful tool) and headed south to Heidelberg to have lunch with a friend. It's a cool medieval town complete with cobblestone streets and a castle looming overhead. Late that night we arrived in Yverdon Les Bains, the town where the hotel and museum was.
Yverdon Les Bains, Pestalozzi Place (it seemed sort of like a market square surrounded by shops and cafes):
The Maison d'Ailleurs (the House of Elsewhere), the museum front:
The museum is deceivingly large, with four floors for exhibition. They are now in the midst of construction, building a bridge to the second floor of that cafe to the left, enabling them to have multiple exhibits at the same time.
We decided to shoot out to the H.R. Giger museum in Gruyere, about an hour or so towards the center of Switzerland. It's a beautiful drive with lots of pastoral scenes, tiled ancient houses... everything picture perfect.
The hills started getting larger and larger, until it looked more like one might expect to see in Switzerland. We found ourself outside Gruyere, a medieval walled town on top of a hill. It's a real time warp! One has to park at the base and take a small path up the hill, passing small pastures with sheep and chicken grazing.
Inside the walls is a cozy village, complete with a castle, ringing bells, cobblestone streets and all the fondue you can eat (warning: not a good idea!!):
This is all a bit of a setup, because only a few blocks down you'll stumble upon the H.R. Giger bar and museum, which is quite the contrast. I later learned that Giger has always dreamed of owning a castle, so it's easy to see why he'd chose this area. He also wants a train, we can only hope that wish is granted as well.
First, we went for refreshments at the Giger bar, entirely decorated in his classic Alien-esque biomechanical style. Vaulted vertebrae ceilings, skeletal thrones, even custom floor tiles.
Bev models a throne:
Aside from the bar and a few sculptures outside the museum, photos were not allowed. Sufficed to say, it was very thorough and contained a lot of his classic paintings and sculptures, including sketches and full suits from the Aliens movies. What surprised me the most was that a number of his paintings were massive mural-like sizes. I guess from seeing them in books for a couple decades, I've come used to them being small in size.
Time to return back to Yverdon and get ready for opening night. The museum, as large was it was with around 400 or so pieces on exhibit, was packed! The concept was to broaden the vision to artists and artistic approaches not normally associated with the classic Lovecraftian imagery. I would describe a majority to be more of a 'cartoon' nature, even using a bit of humor in the artwork. So, only a handful were representing that traditional angle, I was honored to help represent the old guard. Not only were there paintings, but eerie music, spoken word and several films and documentaries on loop in viewing areas. One of my favorite parts was a couple of glass display tables with a complete collection of the artifacts that would have been present in the Call of Cthulhu short story. Everything from newspaper articles to ship logs, it was extremely thorough and authentic looking. I was told later that there was one true piece in the collection, a postcard from Lovecraft himself!
Patrick Gyger, the museum director, led us though the maze of art and people to the four paintings. I was doubly honored to see that my artwork was exhibited adjacent to Giger's works, himself. Honored and intimidated is more like it! It was interesting to see my art after a couple months, and work always looks better with a mat and frame. I thought they looked quite nice, though I feel like I've grown since I've done them... I guess that's to be expected if I am to keep developing.
Here I am am, sizing up my rival.
And, me explaining that I am not Mr. Giger:
I found it very interesting to see how other artists approached the same entries from the Commonplace book. One artist also chose "Azathoth", and drew a cartoon of a soccer player with an "Azathoth" jersey. I also got to meet some interesting people there, including the director of the Giger museum. After the show, a nice dinner was provided for all involved. It was a good opportunity to get to know people better and share our experiences.
More images of the exhibit itself can be seen at these two flickr galleries:
www.flickr.com/photos/17019577@N08/
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/17313207@N06/" target="_blank"> www.flickr.com/photos/17313207@N06/
The next morning we said out goodbyes and set off for France. Here I am with Patrick Gyger, the Maison d'Ailleurs director. If Patrick hadn't somehow found my site and invited me, I wouldn't have had this wonderful experience:
The image on the right was the official graphic for the show, I find it quite striking, but it is best not to stare at it directly for too long.
We then drove west through steep mountains across the border into France and then Paris, itself. To make up for missing Halloween, we visited the Catacombs and Notre Dame cathedral. A fair exchange, I thought. I found the catacombs to be rather surreal, and I couldn't fully comprehend the vastness of the remains. We're talking millions of skulls and bones along miles of tunnels. It makes any Warhammer illustrations look like a Garfield cartoon.
The tunnels, which were once mines under the city, later became a mass tomb to deal with the overflow of bodies due to the plague. The long bones and skulls form walls about 4-5 feet high, and all the smaller bones are placed behind the retaining walls. The skulls are often arranged in various patterns or designs.
Notre Dame was impressively huge and ornate. I felt a bit sorry for those that were there to worship, as the hordes of tourists must be intensely distracting and diluting. I was told that they close off some parts for services, which made me feel a bit better. We were too late to go upstairs and see the gargoyles up close, but, on an optimistic note, because that day was nonstop rain we got to see the rain spouts doing what they were meant to do.
We saw saw several reliquaries, jewel encrusted pieces containing remnants of saints and other servants of the church. This looked like an engraved arm bone:
Though I didn't buy any souvenirs, we were rear-ended by a Parisian taxi cab. Just a bit of local flavor to take with us. The cabs, scooters and bikes outdid any crazy homicidal Boston or New York driving that I have ever seen. With that, we headed north to castle country. Pierrefonds, to be exact, the most perfect example of a castle, in my opinion. In order to storm it, you'd have to travel a ramp that encircles the entire structure, which involves about five big gates and portcullus, as well as a treacherously deep moat. All the while along is an exhausting number of arrow slits. It's far from giving anyone a sporting chance! I even saw a few cannonballs lodged into the outer walls, looking rather ineffective.
If I had been able to read French, I would have known to not pet the gargoyles:
The drawbridge and final gate into the courtyard.
From there, we headed though Belgium and on to the Netherlands for our final nights in Europe. Though it involved a lot of driving, we had a wonderful time. It was exactly what I was looking for, I wanted some stimulation by being immersed in different cultures and locations. I enjoyed the challenge of trying to communicate with people and navigate unfamiliar highways and streets (except for perhaps the wee hours of the night when I just wanted to sleep).
I'd easily say that the trip was a success in all ways, and I couldn't help but think of you guys and how much your help and support meant. Next up, aside from getting over jet-lag, we're back to the Cthulhu statue. I hope you'll join me.
sincerely,
~Paul
Glad to hear that you had a good time! Mainland Europe really is buckets of crazy, the sheer amount of history we have compared to you Americans is just staggering. =P Did you get a chance to talk to Giger himself?
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I had to keep reminding myself where I was, and what had happened there in the past (as we entered France I mused that we were "invading Gaul"). Considering how clean and orderly everything was, it's hard to imagine that such hardships and different conditions ever existed there.
Giger wasn't there unfortunately. From what I understand, he is not terribly outgoing, socially, and it is rare for him to attend events. I was told that if I were there longer, something could have possibly been arranged. D'oh!! Well, maybe next time, if there is such an opportunity. Fingers tightly crossed.
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That is a kick ass adventure Paul. Thanks for sharing the photos espescially and rock completely on with being displayed next to H.R. That makes you an art rockstar in some worlds.
The Paris pictures had super extra fun creepy value. Hope ya'all got home safe.
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Heh! Well, I certainly can say that this experience looks rather nice on a resume, and hopefully it will help lead me to more great experiences such as this one. Giger is a very recognizable name, and the idea of the show being in Switzerland sounds exotic and it being an actual museum (not just a gallery) is even more so. It's certainly a large milestone for me.
The ride home was fairly smooth. I expected quite a hassle in customs, purely because I was coming from Amsterdam airport and have long hair (feeding a stereotype?), but I had no problems. Pretty smooth sailing, and fortunately we landed a day before the big storm that hit New England.
~Paul
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Gruyere is a great place - tell me, was there still the 1/2 gun sculpture on top of the hill, the one with people for bullets?
Glad you had a great trip! Bev looks kickin' on those chairs.
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There sure is, and it's quite the contrast to the surrounding village...
Here's one 'round':
and a cross section of the gun:
I've seen this motif repeated in a number of his works, though I don't know what it means to him exactly. They look like thin babies to me, and appear to be toting some sort of rifle. For some reason I think of sperm ready to be "fired off", if you know what I mean.
~Paul
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I blame the cock rock for the sperm connection.
Perhaps the baby bullets are some kind of metaphor for wars wasting the youth? It's a neat sculpture at any rate.
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The software thought your comment was spam... imagine that!
Perhaps you're right, it might be suggesting how expendable life is to some people.
~Paul
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Thanks for those pictures. That piece always appealed to me, I don't know if it's because of the gun mechanicals or what. Your suggestion of them being sperm is interesting, I took it as an anti-war statement, each solder/person being equal to one bullet.
Thanks!
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My pleasure to share them!
I think the first aspect that caught me was just the sheer cleverness, as I am not a particularly big fan of guns in general. The mechanics are sculpted with such clean precision that it feels so real. Between those sculptures and the content of the bar, I had to wonder if Mr. Giger actually does the sculpting himself, or whether there's another party involved that he directs.
~Paul
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Wow! That sounds like quite the adventure and those are great photos you took! I so happy for you that it went so well! (Aside from being rear-ended, of course)
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Thanks, Justin!
Driving in Paris is rather insane, the cars are bad enough, but the scooters and bicycles are far worse. Add to that, they aren't fans of the city grid, they prefer the 'tangled spiderweb' layout. Sufficed to say, we were eager to get out of the city quickly once it was time to move on. Not a block from the parking garage, and BOOM!! Everyone was OK, the damage was minimal, it was his fault, and we were fully insured. So, all in all, it was just an inconvenience. I did have a little concern that my lack of French could allow him to take advantage of us in the accident report, but I think it went OK. On the bright side, it allowed us to interact with yet another local.
~Paul
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Glad to see you had a nice time on your trip, Paul! The pics you took look great too.
I wanted to check out the Catacombs when I was there awile ago, but I had to settle for watching fender benders on a street corner.
It's good to see that color purple has worked it's way into yours and Bev's wardrobe. It's a fab color, IMWO.
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Thanks, Duffy!
Sorry to hear that you missed the catacombs, they're quite surreal. Hopefully our little fender-bender gave some other tourists something to talk about as well.
~Paul
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