The book Staunen (Astonishment) deals with diverse forms of astonishment. Based on a divide between authentic perceptual experience and theoretic consideration, a few classical examples of the phenomenon “astonishment” are examined (Burke, Freud, Heidegger, Benjamin, Baudrillard and others) and contrasted with contemporary creative productions such as Hollywood movies, TV series, theater, exhibitions and creative positions.

Within his book presentation at Künstlerhaus, Ronald Kolb will give insight into the theories that are elaborated in his book. After that, he will illustrate these theories by presenting examples from TV and cinema such as Roland Emmerich’s The Day after Tomorrow, installations by Bill Viola or TV programs such as the MTV production Jackass.