Pan Paradigms
Kitchen and Workshop for Knowledge Exchange
Label: /
Format: Physical Installation
Country: Netherlands
Year: 2024
Photo: Alexander Formgren
Non-stick pans, often branded as "Teflon," are marketed as superior to traditional pans. However, interviews with both professional and home chefs, along with historical research, reveal a legacy of environmental pollution and the loss of vital culinary knowledge. Traditional pans, made from materials like iron or steel, require care and skill for successful cooking. The introduction of synthetic non-stick coatings in the 20th century changed this by portraying traditional pans as burdensome. While non-stick coatings seem advantageous, they obscure the material knowledge once integral to cooking and contribute to ongoing PFAS contamination. Highlighting the unseen impact of materiality on social relations, Valentin Klauß designed a kitchen to revive this fading knowledge, encouraging an appreciation for traditional culinary tools and raising awareness of the risks associated with non-stick pans. Cooks learn to use and maintain traditional pans while exploring the history of Teflon and its environmental impact. "Pan Paradigms" shifts the narrative towards ecological justice and fosters dialogue on the role of intergenerational knowledge in environmental sustainability.