John Giglio "Designing Heaven"

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Designing Heaven is a series of drawings that propose what the afterlife may look like, what form those who live there may take, and how they might spend their time. The project began as a simple challenge to myself: as an artist interested in alternative architecture, I spent a number of years designing and building amorphous, temporary, and transient structures – but could I design a space which is, by it’s very nature, completely intangible? What’s more, could I make the task a calculated and impartial investigation, one devoid of any form of critique or political statement concerning my subject? In short, could I simply do the job of designing heaven? While the answer to most of those questions may very well have turned out to be “No, I can’t”, the product of a sincere and even obsessive effort can be seen in over sixty drawings that make up the show.

Most of the drawings are small, 11”x 14” or less, and are done with Pencil, Gouache, and Ink. Included in the set are titles such as Transfer Station for Heaven-to-Earth Transitions, Apparatus for Heavenly Ascension, Depiction of a Soul, Ribbon Soul Communities Over Washington Square Park, Souls Doing Useful Work, Soul Residing Under A Child’s Bed, and Everyone Loves a Beanbag Chair, Even Souls.