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et al.

ET AL.

the fundamental practice Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki 8 August–15 November 2026 Auckland
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Encounter the fundamental practice for the first time since its 2005 debut at the Venice Biennale.

This installation brings together visual elements and computer-generated sound and movement to explore the power of fundamental group-thinking and belief systems.

As you step into the gallery, five metal units the artists call Autonomous Purification Units (APUs) move in unison, back and forth on mechanical tracks. As they move, computer-generated voices emerge from the units, sharing fragments of text taken from extremism in religion, politics, the occult and creative pursuits. The APUs’ intriguing signs and numbers hint at some shared purpose, as if they’re part of a group activity, factory, institution or even a new religion.

The combined sound elements create an orchestra of beliefs, sometimes overlapping and unifying, and sometimes falling apart. The result, which feels as relevant today as it did 20 years ago, is an experience that explores ideas about how belief systems, language, technology and authority shape social life.

Acquired for the Gallery’s collection in 2008, the fundamental practice is one of the most significant and debated works in recent New Zealand art history and now is your chance to see it for the first time in Aotearoa.

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About the Artist

et al. is the name of an ostensible network of artists, identities, and collaborators. et al. has exhibited extensively in New Zealand and abroad. Recent exhibitions include contemporary solidarity, CAST Gallery, in association with Ten Days on the Island Festival, Hobart, 2007. maintenance of social solidarity – instance 5, SCAPE 2006 Biennial of Art in Public Space, Christchurch. the second of the ordinary practices, developed from the fundamental practice, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2006. fundamental rekenenm – Nieuw York, Saatchi & Saatchi Gallery, New York, 2006. Solo exhibitions in New Zealand include ‘simultaneous invalidations: second attempt’, ARTSPACE, 2001 and abnormal mass delusions?, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, 2003. In 2004 et al. was the winner of New Zealand’s major art award, the Walters Prize, for restricted access from the Govett-Brewster exhibition.

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About the Gallery

Heralded in 1888 as ‘the first permanent Art Gallery in the Dominion’, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki remains the largest art institution in New Zealand, with a collection numberingover 15,000 works. These include major holdings of New Zealand historic, modern andcontemporary art, and outstanding works by Māori and Pacific artists, as well as Europeanpainting, sculpture and print collections ranging in date from 1376 to the present day.

The Gallery is also home to the Chartwell Collection, a collection of contemporary art fromNew Zealand and Australia.

Auckland Art Gallery continues to actively acquire works across all collection areas. The Gallery supports the exhibition programmes of other public art galleries and museums throughout New Zealand and overseas by making its collection available for loan.

With the rapid growth of the Gallery’s collection, the historic building has undergone asuccession of extensions and alterations. The most recent redevelopment opened to thepublic in September 2011. This ambitious building project restored and preserved thebuilding’s iconic heritage fabric while adding large contemporary exhibition spaces, extensiveglazing and new outdoor sculpture terraces.

The redeveloped Gallery is at the centre of a city whose energy and enthusiasm for the artscontinues to grow.

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Address
Corner Kitchener and Wellesley Streets
Auckland
New Zealand
Opening Hours
Open daily: 10am - 5pm (closed Christmas Day)
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Auckland Corner Kitchener and Wellesley Streets
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki contemporary art institution in Auckland New Zealand
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Corner Kitchener and Wellesley Streets, Auckland, New Zealand
+64 9 307 7700
http://www.aucklandartgallery.com

Opening hours
Open daily: 10am - 5pm (closed Christmas Day)
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