The Internet has responded to the death of famed Swiss artist H. R. Giger by doing what the Internet does best: re-packaging the complex into simple, amusing, easily transmitted memes. For a perfect example, take a gander at this collected gallery of art published in the last few days in response to Giger’s May 12 death.
While a few of the images, like the one above, make an attempt to honor Giger’s unique blending of sex, death, and the cold sleekness of the machine through imitation, many more go for the gag of juxtaposing the artist’s most famous creation, the predatory, emotionless xenomorph from Alien and its sequels, with scenes of dramatic mourning.
On the one hand, it’s something of a shame for such a prolific, talented artist to be reduced in the public mind to a single work. And yet, it also stands as a testament to the iconic power of Giger’s design that so initially bizarre and horrific a creation could be rendered recognizable in so many distinct artistic styles, and have propagated so deeply into the cultural consciousness. Plus, some of these are totally adorably cutesy-wootsy.