November 2012
Exquisite Corpse / Group Exhibit
Curated by Sharon Van Starkenburg
November 2 – 25, 2012 / Vernissage Friday November 2 / 7 – 10pm
Statement
Exploiting the mystique of accident and creative cross-pollination in a collaborative project, a number of artists have submitted themselves to a version of the parlour game, Exquisite Corpse. The identities of the participants are unknown to one another and each artist is privy only to the image of the piece that comes directly before his or her own. The resulting sequential project bears out the phenomenon described as “mental contagion”.
Historically the technique was invented by Surrealists, some time between 1918 and 1925, borrowing the concept from a game called Consequences. Players would write in turn on a sheet of paper, fold it to conceal part of the writing and then pass it on the next player for a further contribution. Originally begun for entertainment amongst the Surrealists, its potential for much deeper exploration became clear quickly. At the initial playing the phrase “Le cadavre/exquis/boira/le vin/nouveau” (The exquisite corpse will drink the young wine) was created. The technique was immediately adapted to drawing and collage. Frequently the players were not identified in the collaborative pieces made and they were felt to reveal what Nicolas Calas characterized as the “unconscious reality in the personality of the group” from a process Max Ernst called “mental contagion.” Andre Breton explained that “with the Exquisite Corpse we had at our command an infallible way of holding the critical intellect in abeyance, and of fully liberating the mind’s metaphorical activity.”
In this version of Exquisite Corpse a number of artists were approached to participate. Each was asked to submit one word that would form the phrase to inspire the first piece in the sequence. The resulting poeticism was “The glowing metamorphosis breathes putrified love producing an exquisite phenomenon.” From this, the first artist created a piece, and an image of it was sent to the second artist in the project. Once that piece was complete an image of the second piece was sent to the third artist and so on. In addition, the artists were all asked to work on a 20×24 panel to maintain continuity in the project. Besides the physical proportions and the use of the preceding piece as inspiration, the artists had no restrictions put on their work. The resulting collection of works is a magnificent coincidence, sequential yet individual, one and many at the same time, simply exquisite.
