In his visual work, which consists of photographs, films and video, Joachim Koester examines the impact of intoxicants on socio-economic, cultural and individual life. In the wake of shamans and hippies, but also of psychiatrists, he explores the historical context in which drugs used to be produced, trafficked and used. He subsequently establishes the link with present times.
But drugs are not the only way to reach an altered state of consciousness. Koesters’s work also walks other unusual paths and tells the story of the languages of angels, occult communes and magical gestures.
