In Report, David Schultz reproduces his “genetic and non-identifying social history report”, a detailed history of his birth and subsequent adoption compiled by Lutheran Social Services after his request to locate his biological mother. In Heredity Studies, Athena Tacha photographs hands, feet, ears, and profiles of nuclear family members, celebrating the similarities and differences within the unit. Some of the artists featured here have taken a scientific approach to their projects, reproducing images and data that at first glance could be confused with those found in a medical report. Hundreds of books in the store deal with the idea of family in some capacity – collected here is a sampling of titles that are explicit in their intention to examine these relationships, some of the most fraught, complicated, and meaningful in our lives.
