NORITAKA TATEHANA "ATOM" COLLECTION 2012 In order to assert one’s own power, people have created various "things" and have vied with each other. They were things people were not suppose to deal with in the first place, but they have become the symbol of power and having been undoubtedly accepted by some, they have integrated into our everyday life. The concept of atom in a philosophical sense means “the smallest indivisible component of matter”. Since the huge earthquake in Japan on March 11, 2011, people around the world were left to ponder over a variety of things. Aren’t there just too many things we can’t do without in our lives these days? Aren’t we facing the urgent need to reconsider the fundamentals of life before we ourselves become “indivisible” from that which exceeds the permissible parameters of our control? I have never felt “death” so close to me as on the day of that earthquake. I will never forget how much I was encouraged by messages from around the world.
