A solitary human figure stands in profile, their head replaced by a barcode intersected by a horizontal red line. Identity is reduced to data, presence flattened into a scannable mark. In Human Barcode, Mr Phantom examines the erosion of individuality within systems that measure, categorise, and track human existence. The red line functions as both censor and threshold, suggesting a point at which humanity is overridden by classification. The figure’s stillness reinforces resignation rather than resistance, presenting dehumanisation not as an act of violence, but as a condition quietly accepted. The work confronts the cost of efficiency when identity becomes interchangeable.
