HR Giger's Alien Life Cycle Hieroglyphs according to Christopher Robinson ( as published in L'art et la science dans Alien)

 

leading from
Alien: Perspectives on HR Giger's Life Cycle Hieroglyphics tableau (work 384) (1978)

 

 

Original life cyle tableau, 1978

 

a) Appearance of the hieroglyphs

Christopher Robinson noticed that HR Giger did not include any altar in his pyramid or temple projects for the Alien movie, which he found curious, since his large-scale series of paintings such as The Spell and Passage Temples depicted chapels and shrines furnished with alters, lecterns and cathedra.

But then here Giger did however create a painting called Hieroglyphics, that appeared to Robinson be inspired by a cartouche or a stele from Ancient Egypt, which in a stylized way represented the reproduction cycle of the alien life form

b) Life cycle representations

Exploring the painting he decided that the triangle evokesd a pyramid and it was divided into three levels. 

On the top level we see a facehugger in an egg. 

The next level shows a helmeted astronaut standing on the left side of an egg, puts his hand on top of the it releasing the facehugger. 

On the right side of the egg , the astronaut is lying with the face hugger parasite covering his face

On the lower level, the alien larval form (which was known in the Alien production as the Chest Burster) comes out of the astronauts chest.

c) Figure stretching across the painting

He would noticed that the elongated biomechanical feminine form stretched across the top of the painting touching the bottom on both sides, formed an upside down U enclosing the triangle form like a bell.

With its transparent cranial protruberance extending from the back of the head to the base of the backbone, he decided that the figure represented the adult alien

d) Background text

On the horizontal lines located on either side of the pyramid, in the interstices between its slopes and the body of the Alien, are hieroglyphics that he decided resembled pieces of intestines or worms. 

e) Reasons for its removal

His knowledge about why it was not used in the Alien film extended to the idea that producer Walter Hill removed the temple that O'Bannon wanted, to simplify the narrative and create more tension

1. Giger n'a inclus aucun autel dans ses projets de pyramide ou de temple, ce qui est curieux, puisque ses séries de peintures à grande échelle (The Spell et Passagen-Tempel) représentent des chapelles ou des sanctuaires meublés d'autels, de lutrins et de cathèdres. Il a toutefois peint un tableau intitulé Hieroglyphics (Hiéroglyphiques, 1978), inspiré d'un cartouche ou d'une stèle de l'Égypte ancienne, qui représente de manière stylisée le cycle de reproduction de l'Alien. Un triangle, qui évoque une pyramide, est divisé en trois niveaux. En lisant de haut en bas et de gauche à droite, nous voyons au premier niveau un facehugger dans un oeuf. Au niveau suivant, un astronaute coiffé d'un casque pose la main sur le dessus de l'oeuf, libérant ainsi le facehugger. De l'autre côté de l'oeuf, l'astronaute est allongé avec le parasite couvrant son visage. Au niveau inférieur, nous voyons la larve de l'Alien qui sort de la poitrine de l'astronaute (chestburster). Formant un U à l'envers, un corps mince et allongé enferme la pyramide à la manière d'une cloche. Avec son excroissance crânienne transparente qui s'étend de l'arrière de la tête à la base de l'épine dorsale, cette figure représente l'Alien adulte. Sur les lignes horizontales situées de part et d'autre de la pyramide, dans les interstices situés entre ses pentes et le corps de l'Alien, se trouvent des hiéroglyphes ressemblant à des bouts d'intestins ou à des vers. Ridley Scott a repris le tableau dans Prometheus pour orner l'un des murs de la chambre où les cylindres de boue noire sont conservés, et il s'est inspiré de ces formes tubulaires pour créer les graphies de l'écriture des Ingénieurs. (Christopher Robinson ( in "Comme un tableau de HR Giger" published in L'art et la science dans Alien, 2019)) (Google translation: Giger did not include any altar in his pyramid or temple projects, which is curious, since his large-scale series of paintings (The Spell and Passage-Temple) depict chapels or shrines furnished with altars, lecterns. and cathedra.  He did, however, paint a painting called Hieroglyphics (Hieroglyphics, 1978), inspired by a cartouche or a stele from ancient Egypt, which in a stylized way represents the cycle of reproduction of the Alien. A triangle, which evokes a pyramid, is divided into three levels. Reading from top to bottom and left to right we see on the first level a facehugger in an egg. On the next level, a helmeted astronaut puts his hand on top of the egg, releasing the facehugger. On the other side of the egg, the astronaut is lying with the parasite covering his face. On the lower level, we see the Alien larva coming out of the astronaut's chest (chestburster). Forming an upside down U, a slender, elongated body encloses the pyramid like a bell. With its transparent cranial protuberance extending from the back of the head to the base of the backbone, this figure represents the adult Alien. On the horizontal lines located on either side of the pyramid, in the interstices between its slopes and the body of the Alien, are hieroglyphics resembling pieces of intestines or worms. )
2. Hieroglyphics n'a pas été utilisé dans le premier film de la saga Alien, en partie car le producteur Walter Hill a supprimé le temple voulu par O'Bannon pour simplifier le récit et créer plus de tension. (Christopher Robinson  Christopher Robinson (in "Comme un tableau de HR Giger" published in L'art et la science dans Alien, 2019)
   (Google translation: Hieroglyphics was not used in the first film in the Allen saga, in part because producer Walter Hill removed the temple that O'Bannon wanted to simplify the narrative and create more tension.)

Alien Life Cycle Tableau, 2nd stage (1978) by HR Giger