Firestone

Firestone

“A sculpture I made in 1996 was a Firestone tyre made out of white porcelain. Simply titled Firestone, it related to the translation between cultures, and of course to the terrifying practice of ‘necklacing’ (setting somebody alight with a tyre around their bodies). Once porcelain is fired, it can’t burn anymore. This work resonated in many different ways.
The piece was smashed to pieces when, in 2010, a small child tried to roll it from its rubber mat during an exhibition at the Nobel Peace Center in Norway, of all places”.
– Minnette Vári (from a conversation with John Peffer)

Firestone
1995
Porcelain on rubber mat

With special acknowledgement of the extraordinary ceramic artistry of
Retief van Wyk.