BETWEEN A HARD-ROCK AND POSTMODERNISM - OPENING THE HARD-ROCK HOTEL AND CASINO

Various researchers have promoted the use of ethnographic accounts in subjective descriptions of postmodern spaces. The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas represents such a space, embodying several key fea tures of postmodern culture. These features include the commodificatio n of image signs and popular culture, the commercial neutralization of signifying practices subversive to capitalism ephemeral architecture informing ephemeral social relationships, and the creation of spectacl es of ironic pleasure. The author merges his experience of the Hard Ra ck Hotel's opening night, his interaction with the space and others in it, and his thoughts relating these to a postmodern moment/ethnograph y.