梅田哲也Umeda Tetsuya

Born in Kumamoto City, Japan in 1980, he specializes in mix media, putting everyday household goods and discarded items together into installations. His work emphasizes the diversified applications of the environment. Capturing the space, lighting in the spatial structure, voices and human behaviors, to blend into his work. He likes certain spaces, not usually designed for art exhibitions, such as abandoned campus and factory facilities or forest. Attending the Zhaji International Art Festival in 2017, he has been prolifically publishing his works on the global stage since 2005. He is a representative of an internationally known and productive contemporary artist from Japan.

 A’tol / Atoll / Atall

Artist: Tetsuya Umeda

The artist excels in drawing inspiration from the environment to create artwork. He dug a hole in the ground and placed stones and rocks into and created an underground space. He then laid down more rocks inside this cylindrical hollow space and placed an urn upside down inside. An ancient Japanese concept “Suikinkutsu” is applied here to allow large water droplets to fall without any particular rhythmic patterns, creating different sounds according to one’s standpoints. His creative process also echoes with the origin of the Amis name of Dulan, Atolan, meaning “the place where stones are piled up.” Its English title can be translated into “Atoll,” meaning “circular island,” and the third title “Atall” means “in the least.”