You should wedge clay before you work with it, to redistribte the minerals it is made of and remove air bubbles.
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Yes, as clay contains water and relies on it for its chemical structure it can freeze. More specifically the water inside the clay can freeze. This process will destroy the structure of the clay and really has no purpose other than to ruin clay -- don't do it. ( I am a ceramics major at RISD and I speak from experience)
if you are using recycled clay, wedge the clay on a solid surface, use your cutter, and cut in half, if you see any wavy lines in it, it needs more wedging. if you are using new clay you should not have to wedge but use it, making sure as when you are building that you do not leave air pockets in the piece work, otherwise it can explode in the kiln, worst case scenario
ancient sumerian clay tablets were made of mud, water. the writing was made up of wedge shaped symbols. also, only scribes knew how to make the clay tablets and how to write on them.