Adapted from an old parlor game by the Surrealist artist movement in the 1920s, Exquisite Corpse is a method of collaborative image or word collection. The method, indicative of the movement’s purpose to express the real functioning of thought, features unusual juxtaposition and the element of surprise. Sort of like round-robin, but without the whole anarchy thing, a group gathers together and one person begins either drawing, collaging, or writing something, then hides part of it and passes it on to the next person to add to, continuing throughout the entire group. Usually, as you can imagine, the process can create some pretty bizarre results.
With their Tumblr Corpse Fabrique, illustrators Josh Cochran and Guillaume Ettlinger have given the practice a modern spin that I think the Surrealists would’ve been pretty into. Instead of working on paper, these two artists have introduced gifs to the canon of Exquisite Corpse techniques. The “Exquisite Gif Project” contains contributions by a variety of artists and has already resulted in some wonderfully weird moving images. Featuring work by the likes of Jennifer Uman, Mike Perry, and Jennifer Daniel, these are definitely worth checking out and are sure to spark some inspiration (or at least a giggle)!
Image source: corpse fabrique tumblr
