GIGER SORAYAMA
A large-format exhibition catalogue in English and Japanese offers a surprising yet precise juxtaposition of two draughtsmen who, beginning in the 1970s, pursued similar obsessions on different continents: the Swiss HR Giger (1940–2014) and Hajime Sorayama (b. 1947) from Japan have become key figures of mass culture with their surreally pornographic depictions of mostly female robots and cyborgs. The two picture sections present the works in varying formats without any text, mostly one per page; double pages mostly feature two images by the artists with related motifs. The selection of these pairs is often startling, and attests to a profound knowledge of their works. In the middle of the volume is a text section containing essays, conversations and an index of the pictures. The design specifically places the works in their historical context by playing with aesthetic preferences of the 1980s: high-gloss pages, alternating black and white backgrounds to the pictures, an inserted poster and sticker, and a logo bearing both names. The historical accuracy is also evident from the detail that the Giger image chosen for the cover was originally used for an album cover, namely for Brain Salad Surgery (1973) by Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
