La Mia Ceramica

Clay becomes ceramic when it is fired. When clay is still in its raw state it can be broken down, mixed with water, reconstituted: objects can be made and remade indefinitely. Its plasticity is almost dangerous, it allows for revision and effacement. It has little resistance in comparison with wood or stone. Every touch is present but contingent. After firing, clay becomes other - it can be broken, chipped, made fragmentary - but it cannot return to its primal state. It is now unalterable, holding a record of the movements that made it: it is terramottata ma ferma, 'earthquaked but motionless', in Fontana's vivid words. Clay and ceramic are polarised states of being, motion and stasis...