New age esotericism is only one of several 'alternative' belief systems which claim to have discovered their own (spiritual, political or pseudo scientific) model of 'truth'. Esotericist theories - no matter how speculative or irrational they may be – is slowly but surely making its way into the centre of mainstream society. They are not only a game played with the hopes of gullible or desperate people, they are also profitable business models somewhere in between marketing and promises of salvation.
Klaus Pichler wanted to know more: for a period of two years, Klaus Pichler immersed himself into the scene by pretending to be a fanatic esotericist. He joined online forums, attended esotericist fairs and gatherings, familiarized himself with relevant theories, ordered products and made use of services. This enabled him to gain an inside view of the irrational world of esotericism, filled with remote healing, aura sprays and unicorn essences. In the process, he witnessed a mixture of credulity, quackery and betrayal.
The result of Klaus Pichler's approach is the series ‘This will change your life forever’ which consists of pictures of products, re-staging of images found on online forums and visualizations of esotericist theories.