Readymade mule at Basel

Et al.’s exhibition ‘altruistic studies’ – a “non-peopled, computer-generated performance” – installed at the Basel art fair in early June, their fourth at the international show, has once again sparked curiosity about the group’s identity. Et. al consistently covers its tracks – it promotes confusion about its practice, is consistently mysterious about the number and gender of its membership, and has even “denied” the authenticity of previous works. One of the interpretations of their work is that they are commenting on the generic role of the artist as a figure of authority, their own acts of suppression while enforcing that role, and the New Zealand art world’s complicity with that fact. It’s the complex layering and seesawing of their material that makes et al. so intriguing. (June/July 28)