Download or read book A Pleasant Apocalypse: Notes from the Grand Hotel Abyss written by Ariel Efraim Ashbel and published by Hatje Cantz. This book was released on 2020-06-30 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Documenting the 2019 iteration of the long-running contemporary arts festival Steirischer Herbst The 52nd edition of Steirischer Herbst--the oldest interdisciplinary European festival for contemporary art, held annually in Graz and Styria--focuses on Georg Lukács' notion of the "Grand Hotel Abyss" and Siegfried Kracauer's "The Hotel Lobby," hedonistic celebrations at the eve of civilization.