‘At the moment of fertilisation, eggs emit light.

Since early childhood, I have been fascinated by the secret of life, and when I came across the above statement, my interest in the secret of life has become stronger. I had an opportunity to see the moment of fertilisation through the microscope in a laboratory. At that very moment, eggs did not emit any light perceptible to me. However, they were grotesque but beautiful, and surely looked shining, which was the scene of the secret of life. The scene of innumerable sperms swarming around eggs is a haunting image to me. Strictly speaking, at the moment of fertilisation, there is a change in the wavelength of calcium ions (positively charged atoms of calcium) inside the egg. Based on an idea of regarding light as a wavelength, the electronic wavelength of the calcium ions may possibly be expressed as “light”. The inspiration I got at the time determined the shape of The Birth, which expresses a scene of light-emitting eggs superbly fertilised with swarming sperms. Due to the light bulbs turned inwards, surrounding ones are reflected on the surface of each other. This evokes one fertilised egg repeating cell division to be multiplied to 200 to 300 folds in one week. The Birth repeats flickering of light like a heartbeat. This comes from the repetitive increase of calcium ions (calcium oscillation) in the eggs after fertilisation. Today, humanitarian issues such as racism and indiscriminate terrorism are endless. Now that even life can be artificially created, and the its significance appears to change, it is a time for us to take a fresh look at what “life” is all about. The Birth will be a trigger to rediscover the mystery and preciousness of life.’

Satoshi Itasaka