Giovanni Gaggia's 'Come Le Ali' Site-Specific Work for Pergola Funeral Home

Artist Giovanni Gaggia (born 1977 in Pergola) has completed 'Come Le Ali', a site-specific installation for the Casa del Commiato funeral home in Pergola, Marche. Commissioned by owner Piero Cecchetelli, who co-owns the facility with Massimiliano Buratti, the work aims to evoke a domestic, welcoming atmosphere for mourners. Gaggia, whose practice focuses on the body and human existence, collaborated closely with Cecchetelli on material and color choices, even returning to watercolors he used in art school. The central motif is a golden thread that runs through three rooms: starting in a white waiting room with a butterfly wing motif (inspired by a previous collaboration with Walter Valentini on the engraving 'Unitis Signis'), continuing into a blue damask room where the line echoes the arms of Canova's 'Amore e Psiche' holding a butterfly, and ending in a red room with a tulip, symbolizing the vanity of earthly things. Gaggia describes the project as a journey from white (everything) through blue (awareness and thought) to red (life again). The artist, known for performance art, approached this installation by revisiting personal experiences of farewell and deconstructing sensory details. The work is accompanied by a text by Giovanni Intra Sidola.