Marcella Vanzo on Ceramics, Photography, and Her Exhibition at Fondazione Berengo

In an interview with Artribune, Milanese artist Marcella Vanzo (b. 1973) discusses her integration of ceramics into her photography and video practice. Her current solo show, "To wake up the living to wake up the dead," curated by Matteo Bergamini, is on view at Fondazione Berengo in Venice. The exhibition features a video installation shot at the Redipuglia military shrine in Friuli, the largest war memorial in Europe, where a drummer was brought in to disrupt the silence. Two installations include "SENTE," a re-edited version of the shrine's "PRESENTE" inscription, and "I NOMI," thousands of names of the fallen printed on photographic paper for visitors to take away. Vanzo also discusses her earlier exhibition "Secreto" at the Reggio Emilia Photography Festival, curated by Marinella Paderni, held in a deconsecrated church where ceramics commented on sacred architecture and family secrets. She describes her improvisational approach to ceramics, working with the Puzzo workshop in Bovisa and previously with the Gatti workshop in Faenza, and notes the influence of artist Alessandro Pessoli. Vanzo's series "Soprammobili" uses magazines as sculptures with ceramic interventions, reflecting on domestic decoration. She sees ceramics as a way to create unexpected links and ironic commentary on images, emphasizing the material's transformative potential.