KF 20 Coffee makers

On Tue Dec 22, 2009 , someone by the username of Nexus42 at Propsummit was able to identify the coffee makers in the Nostromo kitchen as Braun Aromaster KF 20, designed in 1972 by Florian Seiffert

one of the coffee makers in the
Nostromo's kitchen area in Alien

white Braun Aromaster KF20
(source: http://www.domusweb.it/)

1. Nexus 42: Talking about the various props seen in the background on the nostromo, let me introduce you to one of my favourites, the most beautiful coffee machine in the world, and thanks to Ridley Scott in outer space too!
   

   

   Florian Seiffert

   
   The Braun Aromaster KF 20, designed in 1972 by Florian Seiffert was so far ahead of the competition in both looks and technology, reflected in the price of DM139. A design icon in the same vein as the Eames recliner, and the Barcelona chair, in demand by photographers, interior designers and creative types, wanting a futuristic icon of the time.
   
   The KF 20 came in white, yellow, orange, red, dark red and olive!
   
   It featured a coffee pot with a enclosed plastic handle, Brauns unique closed filter system also known as the c-principle , this put the water reservoir directly above the coffee filter which gave it it's distinct profile, as oppose to the water reservoir to the side known as the L-principle.
   

   

   Nexus42:Advert for the Braun KF 20. 
   (PropsummitPosted: Tue Dec 22, 2009) 

   
   The KF 20 was produced for five years unchanged, when the KF 21 came out the machine was identical to its older brother, the only difference being a slightly tweaked glass jug with the open handle design, the inclusion of a thermostat slider on the front of the hotplate and the reduction of colour choice to just white, yellow and orange. the beauty of this machine is that it could be produced today and still look ahead of its time!
   Ridley really does love his Braun kitchen products, in BladeRunner he kitted Deckards compact kitchen with the Braun MP 50 multipress the type 4045 coffee mill grinder the HL-1-70 desktop fan ( HL-1 1961 HL-70 1970) and the KF 35 "Traditional" coffee machine.  Not surprised Parker and the nostromo crew loved their coffee so much.
   These machines can still be found occasionally on ebay, if lucky they still work perfectly, I recently picked up a pristine white KF 20 from germany for under £25, just add a schuko plug adapter add coffee and water and enjoy! .
   Here below is the KF 21 in orange, yellow and white finish, with the hotplate thermostat slider and coffee jug with open handle design.Propsummi Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009t)
   

Nexus42: Here is the KF 20 in orange,  same version used in the nostromos kitchen, 
featuring the enclosed handle coffee jug. (Propsummi, Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009t)

Nexus42:: Here a KF 20 in olive green. (PropsummitPosted: Tue Dec 22, 2009)

Read More

Alien vs Eraserhead

 

a) Giger the Eager

Giger was very eager to be involved in David Lynch's production of Dune. Through friends he asked Lynch if he was interested in his cooperation but he never heard from him after that. Later Giger came to know that David Lynch was upset because he thought that they had copied the chestburster in Alien from his monster baby named Spike in Eraserhead and it was filmed exactly as his was. Ridley Scott and HR Giger had not seen the film at the time and it was only afterwards that Giger saw the movie in New York, and at some point Giger told Ridley that he should see the film but Ridley never did.

b) Parallel ideas?

David Lynch would later speak of his own sort of connection with Giger's art, that one night, in his dreams or reveries. he went to the place where Giger's ideas came from. And also David Lynch thought that the feeling that he got from his time at Philadelphia was close to Giger's art. David Lynch came to understand the experience that David Cronenberg and Dan O'Bannon talked about which was the idea that more than one person would have the same idea at the same time, although it seemed that Cronenberg found it hard to distangle himself from the experience of Alien having close parallels with his own movie Shivers.

c) Alternate explanations?

It wasn't HR Giger who came up with the final idea for the chestburster and he didn't come up with the initial concept as it was presented in Dan O'Bannon's script either. Perhaps Dan had seen Lynch's film since he was a keen movie goer and this sort of thing was the sort of thing he might have seen, but a fair amount of the discussion about who thought what and why remains in a blur . Dan O'Bannon died without being interviewed about the matter, but if he had, there were numerous other inspirations for Dan's creation. ( See: Birthing the chesburster)

1. Giger: I have just seen a movie in New York called Eraserhead. This is one of the best films I have ever seen. (Quote from an unnamed American magazine in Giger's Biomechanics)
2. Giger: He told me that he was convinced that we had been inspired by his movie Eraserhead to do Alien! The fact is that during the shooting of Alien, we acknowledged Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a movie which Ridley Scott wished had a larger audience. I like this movie a lot, by the way. It's really strange to find myself working on Poltergeist II which  happens to be the sequel to a Tobe Hooper film (Giger's Biomechanics)
3.  Cinefantastique: You made designs for DUNE(CFQ9:1:35 and CFQ14:4/5:33) for two aborted productions, but when David Lynch finally filmed it, you were not involved. Why?
   HR Giger: I was very eager to be. Through friends I asked Lynch if he was interested in my co- operation. I never heard from him. Later I came to know that he was upset because he thought we copied the chestburster in ALIEN from his monster baby in ERASERHEAD, which was not so. Ridley Scott and I hadn't even seen that film at the time. If one film influenced ALIEN it was THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. I would have loved to collaborate with Lynch on DUNE but apparently he wanted to do all the designs by himself. I think he did a great job. I admire Lynch tremendously. I think he's one of the greatest film- makers and I would very much like to work for him some time.
   Cinefantastique: Do you see any points of comparison between your work and Lynch's oeuvre as a director?
   
   HR Giger: Sometimes elements in my paintings resemble the technology of the last century, similar to Lynch. I use tubes, pipes, and broken down machinery.
   Cinefantastique: Can you name yourfavorite films and directors?
   HR Giger: Lynch's BLUE VELVET. Ridley Scott. I'm not crazy about fantastic films. I prefer reality.(Cinefantastique, vol 14, no 4, May, 1988, p35)
4. Swiss artist and designer H R Giger, who toiled on Alexandro Jodorowsky and Ridley Scott versions of Dune (1984), denied the alleged influence of the Eraserhead baby on the baby alien Œchestburster¹ in Alien (1979), for which Giger won an Academy Award. "I¹ve been told that [Lynch] thinks we stole his Eraserhead baby the the alien chestburster, but that¹s not true," Giger, whose designs for Dune were rejected by Lynch, told Fear magazine. "I told Ridley Scott that he should see [Eraserhead], though he never did. David Lynch said that it was filmed exactly as his was, but it couldn¹t have been, because Ridley hadn¹t seen it!" (The Complete Lynch, David Hughes, 2001)
5. HR Giger:  He was not pleased because he thought we had stolen his "Eraserhead" baby creature for "Alien." But it can't be true because Ridley Scott had never seen "Eraserhead." I saw it, but I don't know. Maybe he was jealous. But, I think, it's unnecessary for him to make such statements because he's so good. I like  all of his films so much. I am a great admirer of David Lynch and I would very much like to work for him.(EasyReader_14Jul1988)
6. Pre-production had begun much earlier, in May 1981, with one of Lynch¹s first decisions being to reject Giger¹s designs. "I didn¹t like [his approach], I didn¹t like the design in the book, and I didn¹t like any designs that I¹d seen," says Lynch. "It was a problem." (The Complete Lynch, David  Hughes, 2001)
7. robot9000: Mr. Lynch, what do you think of HR GIGER and his work and the fact that Hollywood gives the man no props!
   DAVIDLYNCH [8:20 PM PST]: ONE NIGHT I WENT TO THE PLACE WHERE GIGER GETS HIS IDEAS
   johnnyz [8:21 PM PST]: david - Giger has seen the depths .... his work is quite extraordinary .... (davidLynch.com, chatroom, 12th February 2002)
8.  wmmvrrvrrmm [6:57 PM PST]: I thought about the comment you made last night that you once went to the place where Giger got his ideas from. But then Giger when he first saw Eraserhead thought it was a homage to his own paintings. Maybe you've been there more than you realised. although Giger's world has nothing to do with Philadelphia.
   DAVIDLYNCH [6:59 PM PST]: PHILADELPHIA IS VERY CLOSE TO GIGER'S WORLD
   wmmvrrvrrmm [7:00 PM PST]: That's a nice thing to say. I want to tell Giger something in his guestbook that will make him smile when he hears your name in an interview (davidLynch.com, chatroom, 13th February 2002) (comment had been entered into the guest book but it was unlikely to have grabbed the attention of anyone associated with GIger)
9. Vice:What ever happened with Dune?
   HR Giger: Dune never happened with me. I was asked to do it two times. Once with Jodorowsky and then another time with Ridley Scott, but the daughter of Dino de Laurentiis had the rights for Dune and she gave them to David Lynch. And David Lynch was not very happy with me.
   Vice: Why’s that?
   HR Giger: He said that I had stolen his ideas, that I’d stolen his baby. I said I liked his baby from Eraserhead. I always said very nice things about him but he was a little strange. And he was jealous because I exhibited in a New York gallery and he couldn’t. He was sour. But I like him.
   Vice: Do you have a favorite Lynch movie?
   HR Giger: Yes, I mean all of Twin Peaks. That was really fabulous. And of course it all started with Eraserhead. All the films he did were wonderful. (http://motherboard.vice.com/ 2009)
10. Fear:  You've said before that David Lynch's Eraserhead is one of your favourite films, and that you'd like to work with him. A lot of your rusty, steamy machinery is reminiscent of his work
    HR Giger: Yes, that's true. People have asked him about me, but he isn't really enthusiastic about my work. I've been told that he thinks we stole his Eraserhead baby for the Alien chestburster, but that's not true. I told Ridley Scott that he should see the film, though he never did. David Lynch said that it was filmed exactly as his was, but it couldn't have been because Ridley hadn't seen it! Lynch talked like it was some sort of homage to his work. I don't know why he's like that. Probably jealousy - I don't know. I worked on Dune and then finally he got it. He doesn't seem to want to be friendly to me, and I don't know why. It's stupid. (Fear, December 1990, p21)

Read More

Giger on Dali

leading from

H R Giger's Art
and 
Salvador Dali 

a) When Giger was fourteen, he first saw his painting Premonition of the Civil War on a small postcard. He was captivated by the use of shadow and the incredible figures depicted in his paintings. For some reason, he felt as if he was already familiar with his work and he thought that he had seen the same world  in the still from Cocteau's film Beauty And the Beast in Life magazine. Giger as an artist admitted that he found it impossible to not be influenced by Dali in his work.

b) See also Elongated skull apparitions by way of Dali 

1. Giger: Finally I saw a painting by Dali, just on a small postcard; I was very impressed. I saw the same world I had seen before in the stills from Cocteau's film (HR Giger by Debbie Harry and Christ Stein)
2. Tom Gabriel Warrior: There exist a number of parallels between you and Salvador Dali. Is it correct that Salvador Dali had a special significance in your life?
   
   H R Giger: Yes, very much so. he was someone I deeply admired. When I was fourteen, I first saw his painting Premonition of Civil War on a postcard. I was captivated by the use of shadow and by the incredible figures depicted in his paintings. For some reasons, it felt as if I was already familiar with his work? (Zero Tolerance  #26, p25 Nov/Dec 2008)

Read More

Giger on Bosch

leading from

H R Giger's Art

1. HR Giger: Well, Bosch was very strong for me. It was real, it would make me so angry that I would become afraid. Sometime I would have to sleep between my parents.  (Interview with Debbie Harry and Christ Stein, Rolling Stone)
2. HR Giger: In Bosch paintings there are combinations of machines and animals, strange biomechanical monsters. (International Tattoo Art Feb 1995)
3. ITA: Did you see things in the dark?
   HR Giger: Oh, yes. All kinds of things. There were certain stories that made strong impressions on me. My mother always told me this one story about a person who went out to learn to con- quer their fear. It was a fairy tale, probably a Hans Christian Andersen story. Horrible people, freaks. They were bowling with bones and skulls. Later on when I read the book myself, and I came nearer to the page where he illustration was, I couldn't look at it. It was the same when I first saw the drawings of Hieronymus Bosch. For me, they were like photographs of hell.   (International Tattoo Art Feb 1995)

Read More

Cocteau and "Beauty And The Beast"

leading from

H R Giger's Art

1. Giger: One of my first fascinations was Cocteau's film The Beauty And The Beast, I didn't see the film, but I saw photos from a copy of Life Magazine that American Soldiers brought with them.  (HR Giger by Debbie Harry & Christ Stein) 
2. Giger: Like Cocteau, I hate being limited to a particular genre.(Cinefantastique vol 9. no.1)
3. Giger: C'est pour- quoi j'aime tant La Belle et la Bête ! Cocteau est celui qui m'a le plus influencé. (PREMIERE · Octobre 1995 · 81) This is why I so love Beauty and the Beast! Cocteau was the one who influenced me the most.

Read More

Giger on people's treatment of animals

leading from

H R Giger's Art

Giger: But one thing that left its impression was the way people treated animals. There was a hotel on the street where we lived and they raised pigs. Every few months they would come to take the full grown pigs away to be killed and the way they would transport them was by the ears and the tail., these heavy beasts and they cried and cried; it made me depressed. Then in Flims, a little ski village where my grandmother lived, they killed a cow where everyone could see.  Someone would hold the cow with a piece of wire around its neck and a man would hit it on the head with a hammer, several times. The cow would be standing and the head would go lower and lower and she would fall. It was terrible to see these things as a child. (HR Giger by Debbie Harry and Chris Stein)

Read More

Giger's Shaft Dreams

leading from

H R Giger's Art

a). Shaft Dreams
Architecture at HR Giger's childhood home led to dreams. The "shaft pictures" that he began to draw in 1966 had their origins in his nightmares from the time when he was sleeping badly. In the stairwell of his parents' house in Chur was a secret window, which gave onto the interior of the Three Kings Hotel next door and was always covered with a dingy brown curtain. In his dreams, this window was open and he saw gigantic bottomless shafts, bathed in a pale yellow light. On the walls were treacherous wooden stairways without bannisters than led down into a yawning abyss. Since he took to drawing these imaginary chasms, the window of his dreams had remained firmly and definitely shut.

b.) Cellar Dreams
Another place led to another set of dreams,  Giger's family home's cellar that was approached by an old and musty spiral staircase, it led into a vaulted corridor. The hotel proprieter told him that there were two subterranean passages in Chur which led from the Bishop's palace down through the Reberg and beneath the town. Pert of one of the passages form the cellar of his Giger's home. The exit of the cellar of the hotel on the Riechspassage had previously been open and anyone who dared could descend for quite a way. Sometime previously however, it had been walled up as there was danger from subsidence. Giger only saw the locked door which inspired in him the most sinister images. In his dreams, these passages were open and led into a monstrous labyrinth where all kinds of dangers lay ahead of him. Almost every dream led Giger down the winding staircase into this magic world of the imagination

c) Descriptions of drawings
In those dream inspired drawings, he showed a table with limbless human bodies around a table with their legs replaced by draws extending from a table

Shaft No. 3 showed Leg bones extending from the water below and the hip joints transforming into crouched figures .

Shaft no.4 Humans in Klu Klux Klan robes on a skewer like football players in a table top football game across a platform and one marching down the stairs carrying a dildo, approaching a humanoid with two heads.

1. Shadowplayzine: Giger was born in 1940 in the small Swiss town of Chur, an "unbearable" place of "high mountains... and pretty bourgeois attitudes". Growing up there, he had nightmares in his parents house and would imagine "gigantic bottomless shafts bathing in a pale yellow light".(http://www.shadowplayzine.com, interview with Neville Drury, first published in Shadowzine #5, 1985) 
2. Giger: The 'Shaft' pictures , which I began to produce around 1966, have their origin in my dreams. I was sleeping badly at the time and was pursued by a series of nightmares. In the stairwell of my parents' house in Chur was a secret window, which gave onto the interior of the Three Kings Hotel next door, and was always covered with a dingy brown curtain. In my dreams, or nightly wanderings, the window was open and I saw gigantic bottomless shafts, bathed in pale yellow light. On the walls, steep and treacherous wooden stairways without bannisters led down into the yawning abyss. Another source of my fantasies was our cellar. Approached via an old and musty spiral staircase , it led into a vaulted corridor. As our neighbour, the hotel proprierter, told me, there were two subterranean passages in Chur that edt from the bishop's palace down through the Rebberg and beneath the town. Part of one of these passages formed our cellar. The exit from the cellar of the hotel on the Reichgasse had previously been open, and anyone who dared could descend for quite a way. Some time previously , however, it had been walled up, as there was a danger of subsidence. I saw only the locked doow, which inspired me in the most sinister imaginings. In my dreams, however, these passages were open and led into a monstrous labyrinth, where all kinds of danger lay in wait for me. Almost every dream led me down the winding staircase into this magic world of the imagination , both attracting and intimidating me at the same time. (Giger's Necronomicon, p6) 
3. Interviewer: Ihre Heimatstadt Chur und ganz generell das Bündnerland Sie beeinflusst?
   Your home town of Chur and in general the Grisons influenced you ?
   Giger: Unsere Churer Wohnung mit den eindrücklichen Kellern hat mich sehr beein- flusst. Aber sie hätte gerade so gut in Zürich wie in Chur sein können. Beeinflusst haben mich auch die Alpen, das heisst Flims, woher meine Grossmutter stammt und wo ich manchmal zu Besuch war. Auch die Berge, der Wald sind wichtig für mich. Ich mag Chur, aber es hat nicht viel mit meiner Kunst zu tun. (SeedammKulturzentrum 17)
   Our Chur apartment with the impressive cellars I was very influenced . But they had just as good in Zurich as in Chur can be. Have influenced me and the Alps , which means Flims, where my grandmother comes from and where I was sometimes to visit. The mountains , the forest are important to me. I like Chur , but it does not have much to do with my art.

Three Kings Hotel, Chur

Read More