Swiss artist H.R. Giger is probably best known for his work on Alien, where he created the scariest creatures I have ever seen…on film. He won an Oscar for it. He also worked on Alien 3, Species, Prometheus, Poltergeist 2 and other flicks. He did album work for Danzig, The Dead Kennedys, Debbie Harry and more. In 1998 Les Barany, Giger’s agent, collaborated with Limelight owner Peter Gatien and the Giger Room was created. People came from everywhere to see it. H.R. Sadly, Giger died on May 12 from injuries sustained in a fall. He was 74-years-old. Les Barany was rushing off to “the house” in Zurich, but took some time to tell us how it all came to be.
How did the Giger Room happen?
My mind is hazy on how the hook-up with Peter happened. I think another Peter, don’t remember his last name, came up with the idea, presented it to Gatien and to me, but kept us from communicating directly, trying to finagle for himself a hefty commission. Somehow, as these things happen, he was bypassed and we signed a deal with Gatien for two years for $150,000, half of which was the cost of putting it all together. We got the $75,000, but unbeknown to us, the shit started raining down on Gatien pretty much from the start.
I don’t remember the name of the “Ice Queen” (Alessandra Gatien) he was married to, but she managed to hold us at bay, successfully, till the very end. I remember writing to Peter that if he divorced her, we will be happy to wait and not make a big stink over it. Hell, I was drinking for free, getting laid regularly, and became friends (to this day) with some truly nice folks. Loved working with his design director Arthur Weinstein who lived at the Chelsea and died too young, and there was money for all sorts of changing Giger installations, but never quite enough to pay the balance owed to us. Good thing I genuinely liked Gatien. When the curtains came down, I shook hands with him and said I will consider the rest a debt of honor. He said thanks, and at the time I think he meant it. You know what, I’d do business with him again.
When I mention that to friends they think I’m very naive. Maybe. Or maybe not. The only thing I regret is some mother-fucker Goth guy who was doing parties in the Giger Room at the end who was able to steal one of the aluminum Giger tables. Can’t remember his name but he moves between Amsterdam, Paris and probably his mother’s basement somewhere in Queens. Turns up in the NY Post around Halloween like clockwork was tipped off by a Giger fan who overheard his conversation about it with his friend, 10 years ago, in a chat-room. It was copied and mailed to us. Now would be a good time to out this mother-fucker to his adoring fans who, of course, are all Giger fans. I expect they would rip his fangs out, as well as his heart.
So how did you get Giger into it?
Once I determined there was half way serious money on the table, I talked it over with HRG. An outpost in NYC is something that had always interested him since this city was a source of enduring fascination to him. Like most misfits he was drawn to this city like moth to a flame. I don’t think referring to him as a misfit denigrates his memory, all it means he felt strangely at home here. Nothing new. Like a lot of us, it’s the one place there’s no need to explain ourselves. Not that he didn’t feel at home is Switzerland, he did, more so than anyplace else. But with the exception of a handful, few in his own country felt comfortable about him or felt a kinship to his art. At least not 15 years ago. There was nothing to lose in a deal with the Limelight. He was not insecure about his own artistry and I would have no trouble showing him in the men’s room of the Oyster Bar. His reputation is bullet proof.
He liked the idea that the place was a landmarked church, the ballsy juxtaposition, and all he needed to know is the layout of the room and if I liked the owner. He trusted my instincts even when I as not so sure. We sent him the floor plan and advised him of the restrictions, and that the interior could not be altered. Using his existing works at the time and the existing budget, he provided sketches of how it could/should be done. Remember, he was an interior designer before he took the fine artist plunge. He visited the place just once to get a sense of it and the next time he was back was for the opening. He was happy with how it turned out, and with our collaboration with Miles & Generalis in Philadelphia, who executed his vision of the place. In truth, there was no way to fuck it up. The restrictions that came along with the deal assured that the architecture of the room had the final word on everything. The hardest part was convincing HRG to ‘change’ it, because how much he thought it perfect without his embellishments. To answer your question, it was not hard to get Giger into the project. He was sold on it the first time I showed him a photo just of the exterior of the place.
How do you feel it was received?
From what I remember, the Giger Room was very well received, both by Peter Gatien and also Giger’s fans. It served one purpose to the Limelight and another one for us. Peter had the name of a recognized Oscar winners that could be exploited, in a good way, to his advantage, and Giger’s hardcore fans had a focal point where they could converge in likeminded harmony. Kind of like a meeting place for a knitting club in a church basement.
The place drew the strangest mix of celebrities, people who you would think had nothing in common. Sometimes they would duck in there without wanting to be recognized, as if visiting a peep show in Times Square in the 70s-80s, while others showed up with an entourage and security goons—although it was a given that nobody there would give much of a fuck who they were. Which is the way Giger had wanted it, just like in the Giger Bars in Chur and Gruyeres. The guy in a tux or woman in a cocktail dress rubbing thighs with bikers and pole dancers. Even though it was called the VIP Room, HRG insisted that it be egalitarian, the kind of place that even he could get into. To assure that, since many of his collectors and best friends in NYC would normally be asked to use the service entrance (me included), we devised a way to get around the usual goons guarding the front door or the velvet rope to the room.
We minted an aluminum Giger Room coin that, when presented at the pearly gates, was to be unchallenged, regardless of of attire, sex or age. We produced a thousand of them and split evenly between Peter and I. It took a while until the front door people got their heads around the concept, but not all that long. I road-tested it with a couple of times to make sure it worked as intended: once with a couple right out of American Gothic, once with an obese woman, then a Chassid with a missing leg. As expected, they were shunted aside out front or were told, “private party tonight,” as I stood next to the doorman. Then I went and got whoever was around, Lisa Ahmady, Sorin Abraham, Arthur Weinstein, Maya Ben-Avner or Michael James (Peter was hardly ever around) and reminded them that this was the only deal-breaker in the contract. An hour later I remember spotting Ma and Pa Kettle dancing on the main floor. It didn’t take long for club and the event organizers to realize that there is no specific profile of your average Giger fan.They understood that it was the right setting for any type of event, as well as the one area of the club that could work well even on autopilot. So rom my perspective, I think the place was well received.
And suddenly he is gone. What was in the works? How can we found out more about him?
There is also this: Andy Davis has a one year option of getting a Giger Bar together in the USA, either as a part of his overall plan for sci-fi hotels, or as a stand alone. Check out what about what he wrote in a 1998 book by the title of WWW HR GIGER COM, published by Taschen. My take on it would be less polished but more revealing. The Giger Museum website. Our other main page crashed 2 days after he died, the traffic overwhelmed it. Here you will find his most recent major exhibitions documented. Most interesting area is “Articles,” where everything we get out hands on what has been written about him are archived as downloadable PDFs.
What was your relationship with Giger?
Probably the most difficult question of them all, but Agent. The Europeans always would say Manager, but I always said nobody could manage him. Not me, not his wife or the combined forces of his doctors. lawyers, and friends could sway him easily once he had made up his mind about something. He was not the guy you’d ever try to put a saddle on. And you know what, time would always prove him right. Just looked again to check, he refers to me as his agent in the book. Yes I’m Giger’s Agent Leslie Barany. I am not only Giger’s agent, I do have an identity of my own, and now also as an actor. I’ve also had a book published that became a traveling exhibition, and am working on several more at the same time, and on my own site are the other artists I represent. Not a slouch among them.
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