Upward Crashes: Fracture's Topoi: Musil, Kiefer, Darger explores the perception of altitude as a locus of fraction, from the inception of modernity to the present.Citing examples from literature, art, theory and media, it examines the paradoxical trope of a fall or crash into the heights, from a spatial, visual and ethical perspective. Tracing the trajectory of the fractured self in pursuit of 'high grounds' it discusses, among others, works by H lderlin, Musil, Kafka, Kiefer, Darger and Viola. Altitude is not interpreted as infinite space but as a place of appearance, akin to Platonic chora a suspension, a temporary exile outside of matter, where the subject is thrown in force field of tensions that organizes and evokes images, memories, emotions, and occasionally trauma.----"Paola Piglia-Veronese's Upward Crashes ... fractures the classical topoi, or conceptual starting places, of rationality, as she exemplifies these fractures, or rather ex-stases, in the work of Musil, Kiefer, and Darger. Paola's is a major contribution to the literature. A must read "--Victor J. Vitanza----About the author: Paola Piglia, born in Turin, Italy, was educated at the University of California, Berkeley (BA Honours) and European Graduate School, Switzerland, Dept of Media And Communication ( MA, PhD ). As artist and illustrator she has had long affiliations with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin, The New York Times Magazine, Berlin Verlag, Fischer Verlag, The European Commission, and many others. She has lectured at The Royal College of Art, London; Virginia Commowealth University Art School and Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden K nste, Stuttgart, Germany. She lives and works between London and New York.