Collaborative Spirit: exquisite corpse collaborative book project

The exquisite corpse is a surrealist technique that exploits the mystique of accident. It is kind of a collective collage of words and/or images based on an old parlor game. Each wrote a phrase on a sheet of paper, folded the paper to conceal part of it, and passed in on to the next player for his/her contribution. The game was adapted to the possibilities of drawing, and even collage by assigning a section of the body to each player.

Back in 2005 I hosted a collaborative 'Exquisite Corpse' book project. I invited about 15 people to contribute and, ended up with a total of 14 pages including my own. Each person was sent an 8.5" X 11" piece of matt board to create their image on, along with basic info about the project and, instructions. Also, I asked people to write a three line description of the character they created.

I made the front /back covers and, a title page with the list of contributers. The finished book was bound with binder rings. *Before cutting and assembling the book I made color copies on card stock of each page and, of the covers. These copies were comb bound and then the pages were cut in 3 sections. Each contributing artist received a limited edition copy.

The finished book exceeded my expectations and, the seemingly endless combinations of random, fantastical 'corpses' and text never cease to intrigue. The following year I hosted a second Exquisite Corpse book project and wrote a 'how to' article about the project for Artititude Zine issue #23 (Artitude is now out of print but back issues can be found by visiting www.artitudezine.com). I encourage others to participate in, and/or host a collaborative book project. I hope this is inspiring!
Here are some photos of the actual process-