Exquisite corpse (from the original French term ', literally exquisite cadaver), is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule (e.g. "The ''

adjective In linguistics, an adjective (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that generally grammatical modifier, modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Tra ...

'' ''

noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...

'' ''

adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering ...

'' ''

verb A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...

'' the ''adjective'' ''noun''." as in "The green duck sweetly sang the dreadful dirge.") or by being allowed to see only the end of what the previous person contributed.

History

This technique was invented by

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

s and is similar to an old

parlour game A parlour or parlor game is a group game played indoors using speech (from French Parler). They were often played in a parlour. These games were extremely popular among the upper and middle classes in the United Kingdom and in the United States d ...

called

consequences Consequence may refer to: * Logical consequence, also known as a ''consequence relation'', or ''entailment'' * In operant conditioning, a result of some behavior * Consequentialism, a theory in philosophy in which the morality of an act is determi ...

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 André Robert Breton (; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') o ...

reported that it started in fun, but became playful and eventually enriching. Breton said the diversion started about 1925, but

Pierre Reverdy Pierre Reverdy (; 13 September 1889 – 17 June 1960) was a French poet whose works were inspired by and subsequently proceeded to influence the provocative art movements of the day, Surrealism, Dadaism and Cubism. The loneliness and spiritual a ...

wrote that it started much earlier, at least as early as 1918. Exhibition catalogue, ', La Dragonne, Galerie Nina Dausset, Paris (October 7–30). The name is derived from a phrase that resulted when Surrealists first played the game, "" ("The exquisite corpse shall drink the new wine.") André Breton writes that the game developed at the residence of friends at an old house in

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has bee ...

, 54 rue du Château (no longer existing). Besides himself he mentions

Marcel Duhamel Marcel Duhamel (16 July 1900 in Paris – 6 March 1977 in Saint-Laurent-du-Var) was a French actor and screenwriter, founder of the Série noire publishing imprint. He played The Foreman in Jean Renoir's 1936 ''The Crime of Monsieur Lange''. ...

Jacques Prévert Jacques Prévert (; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the poetic realist moveme ...

Yves Tanguy Raymond Georges Yves Tanguy (January 5, 1900 – January 15, 1955), known as just Yves Tanguy (, ), was a French surrealist painter. Biography Tanguy, the son of a retired navy captain, was born January 5, 1900, at the Ministry of Naval Affa ...

and

Benjamin Péret Benjamin Péret (4 July 1899 – 18 September 1959) was a French poet, Parisian Dadaist and a founder and central member of the French Surrealist movement with his avid use of Surrealist automatism. Biography Benjamin Péret was born in Rezé, ...

as original participants.

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...

often played the game to pass time in French cafés during the 1930s.

Picture consequences

Later the game was adapted to

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

and

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

, in a version called picture consequences, with portions of a person replacing the written sentence fragments of the original. The person is traditionally drawn in four steps: The head, the torso, the legs and the feet with the paper folded after each portion so that later participants cannot see earlier portions. The finished product is 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. Another variation of the exquisite corpse also called "picture consequences" is Telephone Pictionary, a game in which players alternate writing descriptions and matching illustrations based on the previous step.

Modern examples

*'' xquisite Corpseis a novel by gothic horror writer Poppy Z. Brite. * ''

Space and Time Space and Time or Time and Space, or ''variation'', may refer to: * ''Space and time'' or ''time and space'' or ''spacetime'', any mathematical model that combines space and time into a single interwoven continuum * Philosophy of space and time Sp ...

'' magazine builds a community exquisite corpse monthly on their website. *
The Book of Exquisite Corpse
' is a series of novels and short stories by award-winning dreampunk and speculative fantasy author, Anna Tizard. Each story is inspired by Exquisite Corpse, based on words submitted by readers on her website's "Play" page. *
Anna Tizard
' plays Exquisite Corpse "live" on her podcast, Brainstoryum, to brainstorm new story ideas. Listeners can submit words for the game on her online "Play" page. *The

cut-up technique The cut-up technique (or ''découpé'' in French) is an aleatory literary technique in which a written text is cut up and rearranged to create a new text. The concept can be traced to the Dadaists of the 1920s, but it was developed and popularized ...

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

and

Brion Gysin Brion Gysin (19 January 1916 – 13 July 1986) was a British-Canadian painter, writer, sound poet, performance artist and inventor of experimental devices. He is best known for his use of the cut-up technique, alongside his close friend, the ...

was influenced by Surrealism. *''

Naked Came the Stranger ''Naked Came the Stranger'' is a 1969 novel written as a literary hoax poking fun at the American literary culture of its time. Though credited to "Penelope Ashe," it was in fact written by a group of twenty-four journalists led by '' Newsday ...

'' is a 1969 erotic novel written as a

literary hoax Literary forgery (also known as literary mystification, literary fraud or literary hoax) is writing, such as a manuscript or a literary work, which is either deliberately misattributed to a historical or invented author, or is a purported memoir ...

to parody American literary trends of the time. The credited author is the fictive "Penelope Ashe", though it was written by twenty-four journalists led by Mike McGrady, with each author writing a chapter without any knowledge of what the others had written. *
Exquisite Corpse
' is a literary magazine founded in 1983 (later in online version from 1999) published by Andrei Codrescu. * ''

Naked Came the Manatee ''Naked Came the Manatee'' () is a mystery thriller parody novel published in 1996. It is composed of thirteen chapters, each written by a different Miami-area writer. It was originally published as a serial in the ''Miami Herald's'' ''Tropic'' m ...

'' (Putnam, 1996) is a mystery thriller parody novel. Each of its thirteen chapters was written, in sequence, by a different Florida writer, beginning with

Dave Barry David McAlister Barry (born July 3, 1947) is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for the ''Miami Herald'' from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comic ...

and ending with

Carl Hiaasen Carl Hiaasen (; born March 12, 1953) is an American journalist and novelist. He began his career as a newspaper reporter and by the late 1970s had begun writing novels in his spare time, both for adults and for young-adult readers. Two of his no ...

. * ''Exquisite Fruit'' is a variant conceived by members of the

National Puzzlers' League The National Puzzlers' League (NPL) is a nonprofit organization focused on puzzle, puzzling, primarily in the realm of word play and word games. Founded in 1883, it is the oldest puzzlers' organization in the world. It originally hosted semiannual c ...

in which a round of trivia questions are sequentially written by players, given an answer provided by each player at the start, and the resulting question posed to another player at the end. *
Folio of 28 Exquisite corpse drawings
' collected from Queensland Art Gallery's First Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT1) artists’ retreat, Bangalow, NSW, 20–23 September 1993. Held in th
QAGOMA Research Library
collection.

Art

* ''

The Narrative Corpse ''The Narrative Corpse'' is a chain story, or comic jam, by 69 all-star cartoonists based on ''Le Cadavre Exquis'' (see Exquisite corpse), a popular game played by André Breton and his surrealist friends to break free from the constraints of ra ...

'' (Gates of Heck, 1995) is a comic book chain-story by 69 all-star cartoonists co-edited by

Art Spiegelman Art Spiegelman (; born Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman on February 15, 1948) is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines ''Arcade (comics maga ...

and

R. Sikoryak Robert Sikoryak (born 1964) is an American artist whose work is usually signed R. Sikoryak. He specializes in making comic adaptations of literature classics. Under the series title ''Masterpiece Comics'', these include ''Crime and Punishment'' re ...

. * The '' Breaking Boredom Project'' in graphic design, Cairo (2008) * ''The Exquisite Corpse Adventure'' (Candlewick, 2011), commissioned by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

, uses well-known children's authors and illustrators *

Jake and Dinos Chapman Iakovos "Jake" Chapman (born 1966) and Konstantinos "Dinos" Chapman (born 1962) are British visual artists, often known as the Chapman Brothers. Their subject matter tries to be deliberately shocking, including, in 2008, a series of works that ...

have produced a number of exquisite corpses

* Eric Croes, ''Cadavre exquis, Chat Santiag'' (2017). Croes used his exquisite corpse drawing to make this clay sculpture.

Film and TV

Apichatpong Weerasethakul Apichatpong Weerasethakul ( th, อภิชาติพงศ์ วีระเศรษฐกุล; ; ) is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, and film producer. Working outside the strict confines of the Thai film studio system ...

's 2000 film '' Mysterious Object at Noon'' uses this technique with a mixture of documentary and fictional film. * ''

The Exquisite Corpse Project ''The Exquisite Corpse Project'' is a 2012 crossover comedy/documentary from director Ben Popik and the comedy group Olde English. In the film, Popik challenges five comedy writers to each write a fifth of a film, with the constraint that each wri ...

'' is a 2012 feature-length comedy film written using the exquisite corpse technique. * ''

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...

'' did an exquisite corpse ident for their 20th anniversary to the song "Let's Fight" by

Amon Tobin Amon Adonai Santos de Araújo Tobin (born February 7, 1972), known as Amon Tobin (), is a Brazilian electronic musician, composer and producer. He is noted for his unusual methodology in sound design and music production. He has released eight ...

. * A ''

Rick and Morty {{Infobox television , image = Rick and Morty title card (cropped).png , alt = , caption = , genre = {{Plainlist, * Animated sitcom * Adult animation * Science fiction * Black comedy * ...

'' 2017 trailer for season 3 is titled "Exquisite Corpse" and features a multiple minute long sequence to the song "Thursday in the Danger Room" from the album ''

Run the Jewels 3 ''Run the Jewels 3'' is the third studio album by American hip hop duo Run the Jewels, which consists of rappers El-P and Killer Mike. It was self-released through their Run the Jewels, Inc. imprint via RBC Records digitally on December 24, 2016, ...

'' by

Run the Jewels Run the Jewels, also known by the initials RTJ, is an American hip hop super-duo composed of Brooklyn-based rapper and producer El-P and Atlanta-based rapper Killer Mike. They released their critically acclaimed self-titled debut studio album ...

. *''Exquisite Corps'' and ''And So Say All of Us'' are choreographic versions by filmmaker

Mitchell Rose Mitchell Rose is an American director of short films known for comedic work and dance film. He began his career as a choreographer and performance artist and became known at "the dance world's Woody Allen" after being so dubbed by ''The New York ...

Music

*In the 1940s, composers

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

Virgil Thomson Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclassic ...

Henry Cowell Henry Dixon Cowell (; March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American composer, writer, pianist, publisher and teacher. Marchioni, Tonimarie (2012)"Henry Cowell: A Life Stranger Than Fiction" ''The Juilliard Journal''. Retrieved 19 June 202 ...

, and

Lou Harrison Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his for ...

, composed a set of pieces using this same process—writing a measure of music, with 1 or 2 additional notes (sources differ), folding it on the bar line then passing it to the next person. The pieces were later arranged by Robert Hughes and published as ''Party Pieces''. *The band

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...

have a track titled "Exquisite Corpse" on their third studio album (''

The Sky's Gone Out ''The Sky's Gone Out'' is the third studio album by English gothic rock band Bauhaus, released in 1982 by record label Beggars Banquet. Music ''NME'' said about the music: "inger Peter Murphy comes across like David Bowie imitating Jacques Bre ...

'') (1982), which appears to have been created in this collaborative surrealist style. They returned to the method for 2022’s “Drink the New Wine,” their first new song in 14 years. *The fifth track on the 1992 album

Sacred City A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ar ...

by the British rock band

Shriekback Shriekback are an English rock band formed in 1981 in Kentish Town by Barry Andrews, formerly of XTC and the League of Gentlemen (keyboards/synthesizers/vocals), and Dave Allen, formerly of Gang of Four (bass), with Carl Marsh, formerly of ...

is titled "Exquisite Corpse". * Tiemko have a track titled "In Memoriam" on their fourth studio album ('' Clone'') presented as a "musical exquisite corpse" (1995). *Exquisite Corpse started in 1992 as a solo project of Robbert Heynen when he was still a member of the

Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia Psychick Warriors ov Gaia was a group of Dutch techno music record producers from the town of Tilburg, also known as PWOG, Thee Disciples ov Gaia and Sluagh Ghairm. Two of the members were affiliated with Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth. The group ha ...

. After Reassembling Reality, Debbie Jones (aka The Mixtress/DJ Venus) joined the project and Exquisite Corpse became eXquisite CORpsE (1993). * A song in the musical '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (1998) is entitled "Exquisite Corpse". *The musician Daedelus named their album ''Exquisite Corpse'' (2005). *The band Warpaint named their debut EP ''Exquisite Corpse'' (2008) because of their collaborative songwriting style. * George Watsky's 2016 album, ''x Infinity'', features a song titled "Exquisite Corpse" using this technique featuring verses by several artists. *Australian sound art collectiv
Little Songs of the Mutilated
use the exquisite corpse process to create music, as well as the song and album titles, for their ongoing series of monthly collaborative releases. *In December 2019, French alternative-pop-rock band

Therapie TAXI Therapie Taxi (sometimes stylized as Therapie TAXI) was a French musical group mixing many genres including pop, rock and hip-hop formed in 2016. They released two albums, two EPs, and a number of singles, most notably " Hit Sale". They announced ...

released an album entitled ''Cadavre Exquis'', relating to the artistic visuals and collaborative production of the opus. *Swedish compose
Anders Hillborg
uses the technique in his 2002 orchestral work Exquisite Corpse.

Architecture

* In 2018, Simon Weir began producing catenary vaults where a dozen designers collaborate blindly using the Exquisite corpse method.

Games

*In ''... and then we died'', players use word fragment tarot cards to form words to tell the story of their collective deaths.
monsterland.net
is an online version of the Exquisite Corpse parlor game created by Ben Samworth Development Ltd.

Notes

External links

*
''Exquisite Corpse''
(2006–2014), a collaborative digital illustration by artists James apRoberts and Brian Christopher {{DEFAULTSORT:Exquisite Corpse Paper-and-pencil games Surrealist techniques Collaboration Random text generation Collaborative writing Language and mysticism

History

Picture consequences

Modern examples

Art

Film and TV

Music

Architecture

Games

See also

Notes

External links