The Exquisite Corpse: Part I

I recently had the pleasure of co-teaching a five-day workshop with Holly Dean in Burritt's Rapids, Ontario - just outside of Ottawa. The workshop was originally called The Exquisite Corpse...but almost nobody signed up. We changed the name to Lovely Creatures and filled the seats.

Burritt's Rapids is a small town that was quaint and peaceful. We taught at the community center and couldn't be happier with the space.

It was hot outside but nice and cool on the inside. And we were able to provide everybody with their own table - always a bonus at a workshop.

The concept of the Exquisite Corpse is based on an old parlor game, later popularized by a group of surrealist artists. Three people participate and draw on the same piece of paper - without seeing what the other has drawn. One draws a head, one a torso, and one a set of legs. The drawing is then unfolded and hilarity ensues. Here is an example, completed with a group of local artists after the workshop ended. I drew the torso.

For our workshop, we put a twist of this concept. Every participant made a seven-page, flip book divided vertically into three equal sections - one each for heads, torsos and legs. Everybody also made their own box to house the book. For the images, we used collage pieces rather than drawings.

We painted, ink, embossed, and collaged. Here are some pages in progress.

Here are most of the book covers.

One of the boxes.

And the wonderful class.

Next Post: my book and pages