6/21/2009

The Exquisite Corpse Game...Blitz version .01



Our esteem "utterly unique" market has been playing (2) "exquisite corpse" games at the same time...(knock, knock) anyone remember...way back when :D

Now finally, one finished corpse has emerge so far... i was hoping to could hold off writing about it till both came "across the finishing line", but my old bones are creeking as i speak, and i don't think i can wait any longer :D

So just a little "pre-historic" recap...in the beginning (when the earth was still cooling)... the first & definitely more true to the early 1900 originators concept of the game had started: (see the origins of the game)
http://www.exquisitecorpse.com/definition/About.html
i'm looking forward to seeing that corpse...soon :D
In the meanwhile, one of the teams lost their adminstrator, so as not to lose momentum, elena, our fearless leader asked for volunteers to take over...and just like then, my hand rose to the ocassion without hesitation...sort of "mindlessly", chucking it up "for the team".

Judging that all this game needed was "speed"...& drawing from my chess playing days, i made a few changes...and called it the "blitz version".

In chess, it is a mental game of strategy...having to think many moves ahead...anticipating defense & offense and knowing exactly how to combat them...hell, they have endless volumes of books dedicated to the beginning, middle & end games...with the clock documenting the length of the decisions made....in the game of "blitz", not only do you have to see the whole board & react decisively, but you have "X" # of minutes to make your moves...and when you run out of time, you lose.

i've seen grand masters break down to tears in a game with non-ranking "blitzers"...the way you perceive things is turned upside-down....much like this version of the "exquisite corpse"...forcing the artist to make quick, more subconscious or instinctual decisions.
I think that some of us felt threatened so much that we were like "deers caught in headlights"...not able to rely on our academic or studio training & normal inspirations to guide us & make us feel "safe". I think all of us felt challenged and felt that we were using a different side of our brains. And all of us succeeded in our task in the end.

The end product...the "exquisite corpse" is JUST THAT... a collaborative exercise that ties us together, seeing parts of our psyche we feel a little squimish about showing, but also feeling safe, because WE did it... not just ONE person focused as the "author".

CONCLUSION: I warned everyone in the beginning, that this version would guarantee instinctual spontanity...and it would NOT be "pretty"...and if "pretty" was what they wanted, they should get over themselves.

I was wrong...i think it is "pretty"...if you compare our corpse of those of the early 1900's originators, you'll find a shockingly similar vision. The Andre Breton group who played this game may have thought themselves to be the intellectally "elite"...yet in doing so they proved how much we are all the "same"...a universal truth??... jung would be proud :D http://www.exquisitecorpse.com/definition/About.html

PARTICIPANTS: maskwoman, PegGradyArt, elenamary, artakimbo, streetnoodles
WINNER OF THE CORPSE:Congratulations to---> David at Artakimbo
All members of the Utterly Unique Market, of the greater 1000Markets.com






Barack Obama as Superhero?

Funny where we find hope...in the freedom to laugh...
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