How to Get to Heaven (2015)

The title “How to Get to Heaven” comes from a postcard handed out at a church in a shopping mall. For a breif period of time, this mall played host to almost two dozen small churches in need of cheap real estate. The shops had all moved out; only a large Dillard’s anchor store remained. The ceiling was leaking and buckets were placed every few yards along the walkway. Some local residents would come here to walk or jog, as it was heated in the winter. Towards the end, they put up signs banning these activities. Only church attendees would be allowed into the mall. Eventually, the whole thing was torn down. These images document the end of the mall’s life, when it was still cohabited by capitalism and religion.

This project was turned into a small-production book as part of MOCA Cleveland’s Art Book Fair, in a collaboration with 19 other artists.

Dale Rothenberg

info // work