Ding Bin's new works adopt the unusual perspectives seen from the satellite, airplane and other imaginary aviation vehicles, capture his subject and composition from a distant curved surface; he has been experimenting for the last few years, and have caught the attention of many.

　　A germen philosopher, one of Heidegger's classmates, has thoroughly explained the spatial impact on the human psychology and internal conflicts in the work On Space among his large number of writings. Certainly, we may not discuss the issue of space without visual images, yet the German philosophy did not insert any image into his book. The task to imagine space seems to be fatefully given to the artist, and assumes that he would accomplish it. Ding Bin's research began with maps, who has soon professed his knowledge of cartography. Then, he set his eyes afield, shifting his focus to the Alps in Europe, the various islands of Australia, volcanos of the Mediterranean, of course grounding his spirit in the Middle Kingdom. This is an artist with geopolitical awareness, and the imperial spirit to redistribute the structure of the world. It is no question that the artist is ambitious. Ding Bin's actions calls on the interests of thousands of men. Men love to read the map, a psyche that's deeply rooted in their ambition to conquer space.

　　All modern surveying technology was first used in the military or in warfare. Without any exception, political territory, and the forging and ending of national alliance are connected to the military and warfare. The methods and image signals used nowadays in exploring space were unimaginable to Napoleon, Rommel, Barton or Lin Biao; they are probably the mutual imagination Sun Wuzi and Hannibal audacious warfare strategy as they awaited the order of war. The artist conspired the overall image with mountains coupled with rivers, glaciers mixed in the ocean of sand, while ignoring details, his brushstrokes covers thousands of miles like a surging tiger. When I draw en plein air, I also think about the object's structural and light effects seen through my physical vision, this observation and judgment is executed quickly in my mind and then with use color to achieve my goal. Ding Bing's physical position is not at all where people draw on the ground, instead he selects large dimensions from mid-air. The term "gathering the world to one's sight" is not an abstract expression on him, in the contrary, a rather realistic phrase. The empty space on his images reminds us of the spinning earth, as well as orbital motion of all planets. The Earth, does not cease to evolve for one second; it continues to surge onward at high velocity. To be fair, it is fortunate for the artist who has not lost himself in the course of portraying such abstract ideas without becoming infatuated with the vast historical maps or images of high tech earth surface; his spirit… even though he is often seated in a UFO, his mind is still sane.

　　One cannot help but to recall the Mexican director's film Gravity where an astronaut survived catastrophe in space. Of course, also Stanley Kubrick's classic space travel. Ding Bin purposefully tamed the colors in order to emphasize the utmost spirituality and the isolation of spatial perspective. He has always been one of the artists who have experimented with the unique qualities and endless possibilities of rice paper; among his recent works, the magical geological textures is revealed through his tempering with handmade paper. His land, mountains, oceans, and glaciers have been unified by his ideas, as if the newest string theory in physics may unify them most grand and minute of the world. The mature enlightenment of deciphering one's own visual world with one's consistent use of ink is precisely the artist's integrity to the medium.

　　The Germen philosopher claims, "The exploration of space is a study of sense of security." Moreover, human life is essentially mutually in motion. What he refers to is obviously, time and space. Time, we often feel rather helpless; a fact that ultimately speeds up the humanity's interest into space. While overcoming the fear of the mysterious unknown, our persistent pursuit into space is also supplemented by a sense of security. It is a rendering of security for the homeland, the most instinctive and proactive labor of humanity. In this sense, an artist with ambition, who dreams to fly through the most advanced tools of civilization with the passion of this planet, might not necessarily be politically incorrect, but rather, timely.

February,2014

Beijing

作者：Ni,Jun