Biennale buzz

Art collective et al is New Zealand’s representative at the Venice Biennale with its installation The Fundamental Practice. 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. Te Papa curator explains in the NZ Listener  how and why et al’s controversial installation was one of the buzzes of the 2005 Venice Biennale.