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Zhang Huan, Family Tree (2001)

Zhang Huan comments on society's labels and need to conform in his work Family Tree. Huan records his performance piece through a series of nine photographs in which his face is slowly obscured by words, names, and stories connecting to his familial and cultural history.  By gradually darkening his face until the words are illegible, Huan shows how labels attached and assumptions made about a person take over one's true identity.  This results in Huan's face being shrouded from recognition.  Without his defining characteristics, Huan becomes invisible, fading into the background.

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