Exquisite Corpses

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  • mg33

    Have any of you made exquisite corpse artwork before? We did a fun activity at work last month where we made them using a variety of art supplies, and magazine cut outs.

    Examples:

    Any of you into this? I wish there were a way we could do these over the web collaboratively, could be fun.

  • mg331

    More info:

    The technique was invented by surrealists and is similar to an old parlour game called Consequences in which players write in turn on a sheet of paper, fold it to conceal part of the writing, and then pass it to the next player for a further contribution. Surrealism principal founder André Breton reported that it started in fun, but became playful and eventually enriching. Breton said the diversion started about 1925, but Pierre Reverdy wrote that it started much earlier, at least before 1918.

    In a variant now known as picture consequences, instead of sentences, portions of a person were drawn.

    An exquisite corpse drawing produced in four sections
    Later the game was adapted to drawing and collage, producing a result similar to children's books in which the pages were cut into thirds, the top third pages showing the head of a person or animal, the middle third the torso, and the bottom third the legs, with children having the ability to "mix and match" by turning pages. The game has also been played with the usual orientation of foldings and four or fewer people, and there have been examples with the game played with only two people and the paper being folded widthwise and breadthwise, resulting in quarters. It has been played by mailing a drawing or collage—in progressive stages of completion—to the players, and this variation is known as "Exquisite Corpse by airmail",[citation needed] apparently regardless of whether the game fares by airmail or not.

    The name is derived from a phrase that resulted when Surrealists first played the game, "Le cadavre exquis boira le vin nouveau." ("The exquisite corpse shall drink the new wine.") André Breton writes that the game developed at the residence of friends in an old house at 54 rue du Chateau (no longer existing). In the beginning were Yves Tanguy, Marcel Duchamp, Jacques Prévert, Benjamin Péret, Pierre Reverdy, and André Breton. Other participants probably included Max Morise, Joan Miró, Man Ray, Simone Collinet, Tristan Tzara, Georges Hugnet, René Char, and Paul and Nusch Éluard.

    Henry Miller often partook of the game to pass time in French cafés during the 1930s.

  • Peter0

    Where's the call to action?

  • mg330

    ^ Basically, someone starts the first panel, drawing whatever they want, with a small bit extending into the second panel, then they fold the first panel backwards. The second person starts their portion based on hints from the extended first panel, and so on.

  • Greedo0

    So that'd be pretty easy to set up.
    4 jpgs, 210mm x 75mm, that roughly adds up to an A4 page.
    first one is head to neck
    second one shoulders to hip
    third one hip to just past the knees
    fourth one legs to feet

    make a couple of marks on the second jpg where your neck comes in, post it up, go. next one does the same. when all four are completed, post them.

    • How do we keep the people who do the second and third parts from seeing the first part? That's the gist of it - you go off limited info in 2nd and 3rd panelmg33
    • Never actually seeing the entirety of panels that preceded your panel.mg33
    • I will make a tool for this if there isn't already something what we can usested
    • you just make a couple of marks on the next panel where your drawing comes in, and you post THAT panel, not your drawingGreedo
    • but how we will complete the stuff at the end? and how should we manage the multiple drawings?sted
  • sted0

  • uan0
    • this worksimbecile
    • haha, i set this room up yesterday, went out for a quick game of drinking beers and forgot to post.kingsteven
  • Greedo0

    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.co…

    here's a PSD

    four sections, each on their own layer. you draw your section, make a couple of marks on the next layer where your drawing comes in.
    post a jpg of only the next layer with the marks where your drawing is coming in.
    DO NOT POST THE SECTION YOU HAVE DRAWN until you have a full corpse.
    when all four sections have been done, then everyone posts theirs up and then you can assemble the whole thing.
    all clear?

    • So basically, it remains up to the originator to reassemble it, correct? That's fantastic!mg33
    • no, once everybody has shown their section, you can just "assemble" it in a single post.Greedo
    • you know:
      jpg
      jpg
      jpg
      jpg
      Greedo
    • no need for further photoshopperyGreedo
    • yep coolsted
  • detritus0

    We used to play this as kids with folded over lengths of paper.

    I had no idea it had such a sophistimcated heritage.

    • Nice. It was a cool thing for us to do at work.mg33