Based in Los Angeles, Ahree Lee is interested in hidden layers and
stories embedded in the identities of individuals, families, and
communities. In this video work, Lee explores the paradox of similarity
and difference. A computer algorithm dynamically remixes still portrait
photographs into an ever-changing, fragmentary video portrait. The
slices of individual photos that make up each composite portrait function
like the snippets of genetic code that are spliced together from two
parents and generations of ancestors to create the DNA of each
individual person. They can also be seen as a metaphor for the subset of
DNA that each person likely has in common with people around the
world. Like the genetic permutations that result in infinite variations in
human beings, the permutations generated by the video’s algorithm are
infinite.