For four and a half hours I use only my feet (whilst standing) to gently tread and grind a single Venetian terracotta roof tile until it breaks and is slowly transformed back to dust, to “terra.” Terracotta, deriving from Italian and simply meaning “fired earth,” is a natural material extensively used in architecture (specifically roof tiles), and the making of domestic ornaments. Roofing is an indispensable constituent of houses, functioning as a defensive armour against climate and external risks without which the “oikos” (Greek word referring to three related but distinct concepts: the family, the family’s property, and the house) is exposed to danger. I use a single terracotta tile, called “coppo” in Venetian dialect (meaning “channel”), as metaphor of home, stability, safety.

Wearing black boots, the intention is to break and dissociate the material, avoiding violent movements, such as jumping or stepping forcefully on the tile. Repetition, rhythm, and breathing are combined in a channel through which the actions of grinding and treading are performed as a ritualistic, minimal choreography with my feet resembling a pestle. Eventually, after three hours, what felt impossible becomes possible; the tile breaks and the subtle sound of “breakthrough” gives a new impetus to continue the process of transformation into prima materia: a task which is destined to fail to be completed. The performance ends, but the journey continues.

In an era when the concepts of home and safety are threatened by hierarchical structures of oppression and military power, individuals are called to stand up, resist, persist, and keep on transforming inner frustration into determination for a radical change. This performance is an act of persistence where vulnerability and strength, materiality and symbolism, surrender and perseverance constantly overlap before the moment of breakthrough.