Et al.
the fundamental practice
2 June – 6 November 2005
Vernissage: 8 -11 June 2005
info [at] thefundamentalpractice.org
www.thefundamentalpractice.org
Based in New Zealand, as far from Venice as you can get, the group et al. will use the internet to monitor and make changes to their installation at the 51st Venice Biennale of International Art. This will allow group members to continue working in New Zealand and around the world while retaining 24/7 contact.
Et al.s installation, the fundamental practice will be representing New Zealand at the 51st Venice Biennale of International Art.
Celebrated in their own country the group has shown extensively in Europe – most recently at the Museum De Paviljoens in Almere, The Netherlands. Et al. was also selected by René Block for the ,B>Eighth Biennale of Sydney and has been the subject of a major survey exhibition, abnormal mass delusions? at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Zealand.
On awarding et al. New Zealands most prestigious art prize, The Walters Prize, judge Robert Storr noted: It seems to me in a variety of ways that this team of artists has radically addressed the problem of contemporary art.
A work created specifically for the 51st Venice Biennale will be installed in the New Zealand pavilion from 8 June 6 November 2005. The pavilion is located directly behind the Santa Maria della Pietà church (commonly known as La Pietà) on the Riva degli Schiavoni, the main walkway running alongside the San Marco Canal from Piazza San Marco to the Giardini.
Central to et al.s work is an exploration of the human tendency to establish truths and orthodoxies in response to the unknown. It is a concern that is reflected in et al.s long-standing choice not to reveal their identities. The group is currently steered by one artist who remains anonymous outside the title et al., thereby protecting her own mutability, and the homogeny of the group.
The project is being developed by New Zealand artists et al. in association with the New Zealand Commissioner Greg Burke and New Zealand Curator Natasha Conland and is an initiative of Creative New Zealand the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa in association with the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.