Do you remember those little decorative plates that used to hang on the wall at Grandma’s or decorate the glass cabinet? They used to depict little kittens, windmills in Holland or scenes from old rural life.
I always found that a bit creepy. Not nearly as creepy as the dolls with the porcelain heads, but creepy. You weren’t allowed to play with it or eat from it – just stand in front of it and think about it. For me, as a practical person and lover of multifunctional porcelain, it was difficult to understand. But all these motifs had something in common. They were nostalgic.
They reminded the person who hung them on the wall of something. Of long-forgotten childhood days, of nature as it once was – all the things we might tell our grandchildren about one day. Why not put our numerous German nuclear power plants on plates, thought architect and designer Andree Weissert and his partner Mia Grau.
And where the hell are we going to find someone to do that for us, they must have thought.
After all, nuclear power is a sensitive issue, isn’t that something you take a personal stance on with a production like this?
Nope, we say and make it possible. “At Reichenbach … we produce a lot for artists and designers and are open to collaborations with designers and creative minds. The manufactory lives from utility porcelain and has a large archive of molds – also a form of cultural memory. But Reichenbach also exploits the niche of small series. We were incredibly lucky because they understood our idea.” Andree Weissert praises the beginnings of our collaboration in an interview(INTERVIEW: “It was a classic crazy idea” – moderneREGIONAL (moderne-regional.de).
It is precisely BECAUSE all our nuclear power plants have now been shut down – you may personally think what you like about their purpose – that they are a nostalgic asset of our country. They supplied us with electricity for years. So why not put a souvenir like this on your shelf or coffee table with a twinkle in your eye? You can take a closer look at these goodies and order them at www.atomteller.de. I can already see my steaming coffee next to a nice atomic plate – I don’t think it’s scary anymore.
