The starting point of this project were material experiments of designers Weiwei Wang and Sara Ricciardi. Fascinated by the stunning picture liquid ceramics taking shape on a flat surface, we started working together, exploring the nature and potential of ceramics. As experience accumulated, flat, white ceramic pieces gradually grew into colorful plates, each with an unique face. To stress its working process, we named it The Pancake Project.
After visiting the Stephanus-Werkstätten, a sheltered workshop in Berlin for people with disabilities, we came up with the idea of breaking up their daily routines with the playful process of making Pancakes. Since January 2016, we’ve been conducting workshops with 11 craftsmen. We started with self-exploration and material experiments, where the participants were encouraged to express intuitively with ceramics and guided through an introspective journey. Then we adapted the experience from this stage to develop a reasonable long-term production method.
The simplicity of making Pancakes allows everyone to try. In the constant dialogue between materials and visions, reality and imagination, the participants created their own versions of Pancakes, each whispering or shouting out its own personal stories.
Piece by piece, Pancakes form a beautiful landscape of diversity which questions our notion of normality and imperfection.
