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Story: Media art

Media art by et al.

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In 2005 an installation by et al. (a pseudonym for artist Merylyn Tweedie) was chosen to represent New Zealand at the Venice Biennale. The selection was controversial in New Zealand, but was treated with interest and enthusiasm in international art circles, as this extract from a television news item reveals. Et al. worked under a number of personas and identities to challenge the personal politics that can influence the way art is consumed, allowing the identity or status of the artist to become changeable and part of the work. Et al.'s use of sound, computers, mechanical devices and more conventional forms of communication also question media power structures and the way we consume information.

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TVNZ Television New Zealand

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How to cite this page

Andrew Clifford, Media art – Origins, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/46430/media-art-by-et-al (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Andrew Clifford, published 16 October 2014.