王宁徳 WANGNINGDE

The Deluge series is a recently embarked project by Wang Ningde, who collected plants and seeds from a mountain in his hometown in Northeastern China, place them on photographic paper and used his own imaging method to depict the mountain’s vegetation on a 1:1 scale. While creating a new vision of the image, the artist also brings new possibilities to the photogram, one of the earliest techniques in the history of photography.

Light is the most crucial component of most photographic techniques and has been a major focus in Wang Ningde’s earlier works as well. But the artist’s innovative method does away with this key component and substitutes water for it (hence the name of the series “Deluge”). He removes the photo sensitive paper and ink from the “dry” digital photograph and combines them with the antiquated “wet plate photography” to create a dialogue. These marks between positive and negative images are reminiscent of the traces left behind by the floods that spread over the earth. The water runs and dries on the paper for a long time, and the ink carried in the process slowly records the outlines of plants and seeds.

Many cultures have myths about a great flood, which is regarded as a global mythological theme as well as a symbol of renewal and fresh start. Water is the foundation of all things according to Thales, the “ancestor of science and philosophy”.  In Wang Ningde's works, plants are flooded with diluted pigments, and pictures are gradually deposited and captured without the use of a dark room. This process of submergence, recession, and emergence is a perfect parallel to the mythology of the great flood if we consider image making to be the construction of the world. The new world manifests as an image.

The artist aims to revisit and reexamine the idea of nature in addition of producing visuals. The imaging process gives each unique piece a natural appearance: colors radiate from the plant.