et al.: epochal

For over two decades, Aotearoa New Zealand collective et al. have brought incisive reflections to bear on the role of ideology, power structures and models of group thinking. Composed of a range of shifting aliases and identities, they are recognised for complicating understandings of authorship and attribution.

The first Australian survey of et al., epochal is the largest exhibition of the artists’ work outside of Aotearoa in 20 years since representing New Zealand at the 51st Venice Biennale (2005). Curated by MUMA’s Senior Curator Pip Wallis, this exhibition will present key bodies of work from the last 25 years reimagined as a new holistic installation.

In their work, et al. digests a vast range of frameworks and fundamentalisms using strategies of citation, contradiction and obfuscation. Their singular installation practice, in the form of total environments, evokes spaces of collective instruction or indoctrination to highlight the dangers of complacency. Over a career spanning several decades as et al., and preceded by periods working under other alias’, et al.’s works have frequently mined data from bureaucratic or para-institutional sources to complicate ideas of truth and doctrine.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a monograph published by MUMA and Monash University Publishing. The richly illustrated publication will include newly commissioned essays by Natasha Conland, Jan Bryant and Gwynneth Porter and provide a scholarly contribution to the understanding of et al.'s practice, including a comprehensive bibliography and history of exhibitions.


Exhibition review:
Celina Lei, Exhibition review: et al.: epochal, ArtsHub, published online 20 November 2024

Advisory:

This exhibition contains sensitive content  including mention of violence against women. Viewer discretion is advised. For further information, please ask a MUMA staff member.

About et al.:

et al. is an Aotearoa New Zealand artist collective. et al. is an abbreviation for et alia, which in Latin translates to ‘and others’. Prior to the formation of the collective in 1999, collaborators p Mule, L. Budd, Lionel B, Merit Groting, CJ (Arthur) Craig and Sons, and Minerva Betts, among others (including initially a biographical name), had been active from the mid-1970s. The collective works in Tāmaki/Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand and has exhibited widely in various galleries and museums including Auckland Art Gallery Toi O Tamaki; Adam Art Gallery, Wellington; Artspace, Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland; Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth; Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane; and West Den Haag, The Hague, The Netherlands.

Access information:

Physical access: MUMA is a ground-floor, wheelchair-accessible gallery with accessible and all-gender bathrooms. Gallery spaces are well lit and on a level surface. Contact us for a parking map or further information.
What to expect: Videos with sound, sculptural installations with text and dark environments.
Visually described tours: Get in touch by email to muma@monash.edu or phone 03 9905 4217 to make an appointment for a visually described tour (for blind or low vision visitors).

Acknowledgements:

et al.: epochal has been generously supported by the The Chartwell Trust, et al.'s new commission n-f-w 2024 has been supported by the MUMA Contemporaries.

^{Image: et al. i am the direct source of truth, 2023, Installation view, Michael Lett 3 East St, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Image by Samuel Hartnett. Courtesy of the artist and Michael Lett, Auckland}