The international judge, Charles Esche, director of the Van Abbemuseum in the Netherlands and curator of this year's Sao Paulo Biennale, said Thompson's work cut "through the protocols of the exhibition system like a knife ... Anticipation, uncertainty, uneasiness and privilege all play their part in charging a sense of personal displacement".
Viewers are escorted by a security guard down the goods lift at the Auckland Art Gallery and through the loading dock to a taxi, which then takes them on a circuitous route to a surprise destination.
The destination -- a large old villa in one of Auckland's more affluent suburbs -- is a very personal one for Thompson. It is his family home, where his mother -- and possibly others -- still live.
The viewer is free to wander around the house, bar the bedrooms, where the doors are closed. It quickly becomes obvious that while the villa may be in an area where house values have been boosted by gentrification, it remains in its original state.
Its lack of insulation is instantly noticeable. The lounge has a large heat pump, but the crooked door to the outside verandah allows the draughts to come whistling through.
But the home has its own warmth, with the detritus of family life piled up in each and every room.
None of it looks staged. A cat sleeps through the intrusions.
"Once you agree to take part," said Mr Esche, "you cannot but engage and be implicated into its aesthetics."
Auckland Art Gallery director Rhana Devenport, who visited the site yesterday for the first time, said she found the project "disorientating, disturbing, voyeuristic and generous".
"There is this sense of the dichotomy in wondering what it is that you are looking at -- is this constructed or is it a reality? It engenders a sense of speculation and questions, like the number of objects and why they were in the house."
In addition to the cash prize, Thompson also receives a residency in New York.
