exquisite corpse
_collectively assembled: heads, bodies, fins and claws
exquis cadavre from the Salish Sea_
Conceived as an icebreaker and inspired by the game exquisite corpse*, this community-focused exhibition balances structure with imagination and is built on a platform of positive expression. This playful game offered the opportunity to make some drawings and dive into the Salish Sea. Using a light hand to spread the word, 62 self-selected artists were invited to play using the game guides. The number of players was limited by the gallery wall space. The exhibition is composed of twenty-two assembled drawings accompanied by Andrea Lynn’s sound piece entitled, Voices Beneath the Waves. At the opening reception, three dancers — Aowyn Leper, Kaitlin Nelson and Karmen Samione provide a movement response to the exhibition content.
With a vision to probe the edges of the Anthropocene, the era of human impact, these whimsical Salish Sea creatures invite added thought about our place in the ecological equilibrium. I’m reminded of Donna Haraway’s emphasis in Staying with the Trouble, with the focus on relationships that underpin a robust ecology and her challenges to humanist value systems. Using the drawings as a chance to see differently, exploring possibility through new eyes and raise a clarion call. When we come together in a spirit of creative, resilient commoning, I ponder how this might spread rhizomatically to environmental contexts?
This eight-month journey revealed striking discoveries of people and place. The drawings exhibit a wide range of Sharpie marker techniques, the tool provided. The individual pieces contain an imaginative cross-section of process and a diversity of creative spirit. Each work bears the unique artistic stamp of the individual and the surprise conversations between the parts of the assembled drawings. Each work is filled with expression, some labored, others more gesturally rendered — all authentic and filled with trust.
What actions and activities bring us collectively closer together? As it is all connected, the concept created something greater than any single individual could achieve alone. The unknown fostered innovation, mutual understanding, and a sense of empowerment among those involved through their individual contributions and the collective results. The viewing public completes the circle.
This exhibition is a fundraiser for Allied Arts through the generosity of the artists. A silent auction is available online.
Suzanne Morlock
curator
*The original game was invented in 1925 in Paris where Surrealists Andre Breton, Marcel Duchamp and Yves Tanguy were among the original players. They used the game as a way of getting out of their thinking minds to access new creative impulses. Their method was to make quick drawings without seeing the other maker's marks until the drawing was complete.