Alien : Evolution of the Space Jockey via Stanley Kubrick's 2001

leading from

Alien: Unlocking the design of the Space Jockey
and
Mental expansion through the 2001: A Space Odyssey's stargate

In an interview with FX magazine, Giger gives the concept of the black monolith from Stanley Kubrick's 2001 A Space Odyssey as a source of inspiration for the space jockey's seat.

1.  H R Giger : As for the chair in which he sits, I thought it had to be mechanical but not with normal arms and legs that could be moved with the feet or the hands. I liked very much the stone tablet in 2001 Space Odyssey, because it seemed to have some interior-like computer. So I thought that the outside could be very normal-looking and the whole machinery could go inside. (FX, 7, 1999 (spanish magazine) (a pdf of the interview is available at the HRGiger.com "On The News Stand section"  )