Media Studio Imaging
In-Class Exercise : Exquisite Corpse
The image is a pure creation of the mind. It cannot be born from a comparison but from a juxtaposition of two more or less distant realities. The more the relationship between the two juxtaposed realities is distant and true, the stronger the image will be — the greater its emotional power and poetic reality… [Pierre Reverdy, Nord-Sud, March 1918]
The Exquisite Corpse is a Surrealist game for producing collaborative images or poems. For this exercise, we will create collaborative digital images using an Exquisite Corpse process.
Materials:
- Computer
- Photoshop
- USB flash drivel
- Recommended: graphics tablet
- Create a new blank Photoshop document, 8 ½ “ x 11”, at 300 dpi, RGB color.
- In one part of the document, begin a drawing using the Photoshop drawing tools. The drawing can be representational or abstract; it will be the starting point for the rest of the image.
- Save the file onto your flash drive. Name it “<yourlastname>_01.psd”. Pass it to the person sitting to your right.
- Receive a file from the person sitting to your left.
- Open the new file. Add a new layer.
- Make your own additions, using any combination of drawing tools, collage, filters, and effects. You can use any found source material you want. Add more layers if needed.
- Save your new version of the file, as “<so-and-so>_02.psd”. Increment the number with each version. Pass it on to the person sitting to your right.
- Repeat, until your original file comes back to you.