John Hurrell – 16 August, 2026

This twenty year old work in the AAG Collection was initially presented by the controversial et al. artist(s?) in the 2005 Venice Biennale, so with its (then) high profile the overt time gap gives viewers the chance to now evaluate the alleged potency of Aotearoa’s avant-garde, and perhaps the elastic properties of time itself. For me it is clearly good to have the chance to think about this crafty installation again, available in a new iteration for two rooms of the AAG’s first floor.

So what does experiencing its many charcoaled drawn-on posters, read aloud projected texts, wire-netting barriers and pulley-hauled mobile loos reveal today? Is political comprehension actually ‘refreshed’ in some way; made for our particular time as something revitalized? Earnest yet also comedic—celebrating love of repetitive mechanical processes?

And, can fundament as a pun also mean backside, bottom or anus, as well as alluding to issues of survival? Are sitting or shitting appropriate interpretations? Sitting one out or the act of defecation resulting from terror of nucleur annihilation? Is this a provocative snatching at an unusual theme of alimentary meaning?

John Hurrell

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