An Exquisite Corpse

Back in the 20's in Paris the French surrealists--Andre Breton, Jean Cocteau, and others--would sit around together and draw. Someone had the bright idea of, first, folding a sheet of paper in half horizontally; then one person would use the top half to draw the upper part of a torso--arms, head, neck--and a landscape. The page was flipped so the second artist couldn't see what the first artist had drawn--only marks at the crease to indicate where the borders of the waist were and, if applicable, where one or both arms extended to the crease. The second artist would then finish the drawing. Once he was finished the page was unfolded to reveal what they called un corps exquis or "an exquisite corpse", though the literal English translation is "an exquisite body".

For about two years in the 80's a friend and I would hang out on Friday nights to get stoned, watch Miami Vice on my tiny black and white TV (a gift from my friend Claire), and draw an "exquisite corpse". Most of them were masterpieces, thanks to his very real talent and to my enthusiasm and killer weed and occasional inspiration.

This is one of our early exquisite corpses. I did the top half of the page:


An Exquisite Corpse

You can tell right away I've had no art training; my friend, though, teaches art and draws all the damn time.

I love this particular collaboration. Completely silly--a giant, topless two-headed woman wearing flippers and leather lingerie breaks through the center of a cabin. On the horizon stand a row of hairy mountains below a waning moon.

Don't forget to click on the picture, then click on that box with the arrows on the enlarged picture to get an even larger picture.