1. RITUALS

„Rituals are rooted in the history of a specific place and carry with them practices that have deep significance for the cultural identity of those who live there.“ (Byung-Chul Han, 'The Disappearance of Rituals', Edizioni Nottetempo).

Thus, rituals are defined as symbolic practices that have a social, cultural or religious function and are repeated on a regular basis for specific purposes within a community or group of people. They are present in all human cultures and may be linked to various aspects of life (public or private), such as religious celebrations, rites of passage, family traditions or social practices. The reasons why they are performed are several:

1) Cultural transmission: rituals help to transmit and preserve the culture, beliefs and traditions of a community from one generation to the next.

2) Expression of values and beliefs: Rituals can reflect and reinforce the core values and beliefs of a community or group.

3) Celebration and festivities: Many rituals are linked to holidays and celebrations to commemorate important events or special occasions.

4) Rites of passage: Rituals may mark significant stages in a person's life, such as birth, adolescence, marriage or death.

5) Creating social bonds: Participating in shared rituals can help create a sense of belonging and unity within a group or community.

6) Resolution of conflicts or problems: In some cultures, rituals can be used to seek solutions to difficult problems or situations.

7) Propitiation of higher forces: In religious contexts, rituals may be performed to honour deities or seek their blessing or protection.

In every culture, rituals are expressed through objects. These may be physical or symbolic and play an important role in communicating and enhancing the message of the ritual within the tradition and in shaping cultural identity.

1.1 MY EXPRESSION OF RITUAL

When I was asked to think of a ritual of my own, I looked for an image that could summarise a very common and widespread practice in my home town: Pesaro. I immediately thought of the Rossini pizza, a type of pizza that is only and exclusively eaten in Pesaro because in the rest of Italy it is something completely unknown. It takes its name from the famous composer Gioacchino Rossini and is made from a margherita base stuffed with boiled eggs and mayonnaise on top.

This pizza took on a different meaning when I moved to Milan for study reasons and this type of dish did not exist there. So whenever I wanted a Rossini I had to adopt a precise behaviour: call into the pizzeria, order a margherita, boil two eggs on the side and spread mayonnaise on them. In this case, a simple dish, like the Rossini pizza, became a ritual.

1.2 THE ROLE OF FOOD IN RITUALS

Speaking specifically of food in rituals, we can say that it plays an important and meaningful role within different cultural traditions around the world because it is one, among many elements, that is able to sustain the cultural identity of a community. The Rossini pizza largely explains this connection, namely my need to turn to a local ritual when I am in a dimension outside of it.

2. VASE

From the point of view of ceramics, for this workshop was interesting to understand the design of vases in relation to food rituals. So, as a first step, it was essential to become familiar with the vases around us.

2.1 MY FAVOURITE VASE

- Describe your object physically: my vase is quite big, the shape is liked squared and is made of glass.

- What is it? And what do you use it for? It's a mug, and i use it for breakfast.

- What do you like about the object? I like the fact that it's made of glass and i can observe what i put in (satisfying). I like the handle cause fit my fingers. And lastly i like the fact that contains the perfect amount of cappuccino. 

- What you don't like about the object? I don't like the shape cause breakfast in the morning is a chill and cozy moment, so i will prefer a more rounded shape.

- Where does it come from? It's from IKEA, industrial production.

Story: It's my first bought object in Germany, because i went here without anything. I bought at IKEA, that is located in Potsdam city center, and this think make me crazy, cause in Italy all IKEAs are located far way from the cities, in the industrial suburbs. So this is a plus why i like it!

3. KMP BERLIN TOUR

For those who are new to the practice of ceramics, a visit to the KMP (Konigliche Porzellan-Manefaktur) can be very interesting, because it is possible to combine historical knowledge with methodological practice. The amount of order, detail, care and accuracy that this practice requires is impressive; there are objects that are rejected at quality control because of the smallest imperfections. 

It was very useful to follow the entire process, from the raw material to the finished product. Very often we look directly at the finished products and are shocked by the prices, which are very high, without understanding all that is behind it.

4. CONCEPT: MUGGY BAG

My exploration of rituals starts from the fact that what we do and how we do it is strongly influenced by the places we inhabit. This became clear when I moved into the student residence at the beginning of the semester and some of my habits were changed. 

In particular, I live in this space with a shared kitchen, and every morning I have to walk down a long corridor to make coffee. 

The path from my room to the kitchen was very stressful for me, so I thought: but what if my cup were a bag?

From here the concept was born. A simple, cylindrical shape with an extra-long handle.

5. PROCESS: mother form

I wanted the body of my cup to be completely straight and perfectly cylindrical, without feet. However, this kind of shape was not possible without a small foot at the base, because otherwise it would not have been possible to take it out of the mould. Therefore, it was decided to add a couple of millimetres to the upper base of the cup.

For the making of the body of the cup, I thought that the woodturning technique was the best, as I had no experience with clay and wanted a shape as smooth as possible.

As for the handle, there were two possibilities: do it by hand with clay or use the 3D printer. Since I wanted to achieve as round, chunky and uniform a handle shape as possible, I chose to use the 3D printer.

5.1 PROCESS: negative form

We then moved on to the design of the plaster moulds, the negatives. The process went smoothly, it was a very dynamic and collaborative time, I learnt that each step needs its time and precision is key.

The highlights were the greasing of the mother moulds with the soap and wax brushing technique. This step makes it easy to remove the mother mould from the negative mould. Next, the plate was sealed with a very strong plastic wall and finally after the plaster compound was made, it was carefully poured inside.

The negative process for the handle required the same type of method, albeit with different tools. In particular for the handle, it was necessary in a first step to use sandpaper to smoothen the surface.

5.2 PROCESS: positive form

In order to fill the negative, we went to retrieve the material, anthracite, in Berlin. The choice of material stemmed from the need to have a robust and consistent material.

In the process, the material proved to be slightly difficult, as its strength made it prone to forming lumps. We therefore had to process the anthracite with a giant blender.

Once the material was of the correct consistency, it was poured into the dry moulds.

Then before they were too dry, the handle and body of the cup were taken out of the moulds and glued together. A piece of clay had to be inserted under the handle to make it stay in.

6. GLUING PROBLEMS

The biggest problems in the design were found in the final part: the bonding between the body of the cup and the handle. In all, I processed 6 cups but only 3 withstood the gluing of the handle. There were several reasons why the handle was so unstable:

-parts too dry

-too little glue

-too little pressure

-too heavy volumes

7. OUTCOMES

Despite a thousand setbacks, I am very enthusiastic about my results, because it is even better than I imagined. I would love to be able to finish the process with the glazing technique, because I think it gives a significant twist to the look of the cup.

8. CONCLUSION & REFLECTION

From this course I learnt the value of time, ceramics really teaches you patience! And also for a chaotic and messy person like me, it is great practice for tidying up, cleaning and improving precision.

Ps: A tip for future ceramists, if you are new to this practice, try to be cautious and give yourself precise boundaries within which to experiment.