In 1986, Geng Jianyi started to create very few works of exaggerated laughing faces. The hairless, earless, neckless smiling faces in The Second State appear like masks. The prototype of this work is a friend of Geng. The exaggerated laughing face is deciphered as the reflection of the awkwardness towards the social reality at that time. According to the artist, he has often been bothered by way of communication. He has tried to avoid the phenomenon of misreading by shortening the distance between the audience and the work. This work is one of the steps during the process to overcome the communication problems. The distance between viewing and being viewed is a continuous subject featured in his later works.

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