In Quimper, many potteries and earthenware factories emerged from a basin rich in clay that gradually flowed down the Armorican massif. Archival sources reveal that potters who were allowed to dig clay from the riverbed were required to refill the pits with shards and other aggregates. This practice became the starting point for the workshop, highlighting how ceramicists intertwine with the composition of the soil — taking, moving, firing, and replacing.

This workshop, held at the Quimper School of Fine Arts for students in the ceramics program, was organized following an invitation from Samir Mougas. I proposed to participants to explore the territory and visit local clay sources, not to produce new objects but to confront what had already been made and discarded by previous generations.

During our exploration of the bed of the Odet River, we found clay alongside numerous ceramic fragments, which we later brought to M. Verlingue at the Quimper Earthenware Museum for analysis.

A lecture accompanied the workshop, during which I presented my practice and current research, introducing the concepts of the Capitalocene and of technomasses, raising the question of how can ceramics make us rethink our relationship with the earth?

“Earthwork refers to the process of excavating, transporting, placing, and compacting earth or rock to alter the natural relief of a site.”