Fantasy art almost always draws on HR Giger’s gothic nightmares and romantic landscapes. The combusting shipyard suggests Turner’s fiery skies; the silhouetted figure Caspar David Friedrich’s Wanderer overlooking the abyss. The samurai’s armour, fusing bone and machine, is pure Giger. Photograph: Allstar
In Robert Kot’s photograph – included in Thames & Hudson’s glossy new Art Plus Fashion tome – Azzedine Alaïa’s ruffled two-piece is more sculpture than dress. It recalls work by British sculptors Cathy de Monchaux or Rachel Kneebone, playing on 18th-century rococo art’s erotic overtones. Photograph: Robert Kot
The gluey twosome on the sleeve of Shearwater’s new album might have escaped from Matthew Barney’s art film spectacular, The Cremaster Cycle. Photograph: PR
A self-described animal lover whose own art has celebrated cult heroes with environmentalist leanings, Gang Gang Dance’s Brian DeGraw has gone back to nature for the photography gracing his first solo effort as bEEdEEgEE. Photograph: PR
The poster for this documentary about skateboarders coming of age as communism crumbled in the GDR of the 1980s appropriately looks east for pop inspiration. Turning an unsung teen into an action hero, it uses a design that chimes with countless kung fu movie posters. Photograph: PR
