Friday, February 23, 2007

Exquisite Corpse

Today I'm going to participate in a "Exquisite Corpse" art-party. What is that you say? C/o Wikipedia: "Exquisite corpse (also known as "exquisite cadaver" or "rotating corpse") is a method by which a collection of words or images are collectively assembled, the result being known as the exquisite corpse or cadavre exquis in French. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule (e.g. "The adjective noun adverb verb the adjective noun") or by being allowed to see the end of what the previous person contributed." The surrealists are credited for inventing this method and did it a lot during their gatherings, in fact there is a good example of this type of collaboration at the Art Institute in Chicago that includes Man Ray, Miro, Max Ernst, etc. :


I've been doing something similar through the mail for some time now - sending postcards back and forth to a friend and constantly re-working them. It is an interesting method that allows oneself to loosen up a little because chance plays such a huge role in the process.

2 comments:

ryno said...

as you mention this, i was wondering what you thought of my most recent postcards? i feel like i have been more thoughtful with my reworkings, than i have been in the past... i obviously value yr opinion.


i guess i'm a needy bastard.

Moon River said...

Nathan i was not familiar with the "Exquisite corpse" method, even though, it did remind me of a game we used to play as kids (with fold paper, in which each on his turn would draw some thing, then fold/hide it, and the next person with draw his sketch..same with words...in the end we would open the long paper sheet and read the lot...funny game)
i think it would be interesting to be able to see you postcard exchange with your friend..see how it changed...

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