Machine Baby,” a “detail” from the larger sculpture, stands guard at the several meters away, and much like the royal guards in front of Buckingham Palace, poses with visitors all day.

The Museum Bar, which took four years to complete, opened its doors with a ribbon cutting ceremony on April 12th, 2003, to a select group of invited friends, artists, collectors, coworkers, and members of the media. Guests began arriving to the long anticipated event the day before, taking the opportunity to tour the museum beforehand and to avail themselves to the rare privilege of sharing a private moment with the usually reticent artist, who was still making last minute adjustments to the careful lighting of the new bar. The next morning, the population of the small village of 300 inhabitants, literally doubled in a matter of hours, with the arrival of devotees from countries near and far, from Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, France, Spain, Czechoslovakia, Chile, Israel, and the United States. The schedule of events for the day included another opening in the H.R. Giger Museum Gallery for the Swiss artist Martin Schwarz, the on-site printing of two limited edition prints to commemorate the day, speeches and dedications, ending the day with a special dinner, followed by nighttime projections of Giger’s artwork on the façade of the museum.

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