What kinds of social spaces do we create through shared craft - working with clay together - and what new relationships of care can we initiate through this practice?

 

In a well visited public park in Schöneiche, 100 clay spheres appeared in the grass between the playground and ice cream parlour – over four days, they were shaped into drinking bowls for birds by over 150 people. Sarah Drain and Mariam Frick invited passers-by and visitors to join this participatory process and reflect on water as a vital resource, as well as on caring, relational gestures between humans and other living beings.

A short video at the park entrance introduced the project themes in an associative way: water as the basis of life, and the value of shared, life-sustaining practices.

Next to the “pool” of spheres, guided clay sessions opened space for dialogue and small connecting practices – such as Deep Listening exercises (after Pauline Oliveros) and methods from Social Sculpture, to imagine new forms of caring togetherness. One artist lead the process, while the other welcomed and held awareness of the environment.

Bird Pool draws on everyday practices that are increasingly disappearing: working with our hands in community, creating both connection and joy. 

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