Let me just preface this by saying I’m an avid collector and admirer of all things anatomical. Give me a good fake eyeball or spine replica, and I’m a happy camper. But that’s not the only reason I flipped over Koen Hauser’s work . Living and working in Amsterdam, Koen has a quality I can’t quite put my finger on: other worldly, 1950’s science fiction movie-esque, off kilter, kind of a fifties Victorian– and he continues his unique exploration of the world in a variety of art forms: video, installation, performance, book creator, and photographer. I’m featuring work from three series. This first image has to be an all time favorite.

Images from A la Recherche de l’Aventure Perdu
“In 2006 I started taking photographs in musea, amusement parks and other man-made tourist attractions. Looking at these places from a different angle, a parallel world emerged, consisting of movie-still like imagery that together form the basis of the artistbook A la Recherche de l’Aventure Perdu, that will appear at the beginning of 2009.”

Well, he could have just visited the set of LOST….

Images from Opus Magnum Atomium
“‘As a child I used to think that atoms were actually planets in space, like the earth on which we live. A divine universe in which the tiniest particles are perfect replicas of the whole universe.’
For me, the photo’s in this Opus Magnum Atomium series form personal dioramas on a metaphysical world. A world that lies at the heart of my fascination with themes such as isolation, birth and death, childhood, animals, science and physical alienation.”