Roll a D20 dice for a random brief.

Brief: Exquisite corpse is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Find collaborators, and re-imagine the exquisite corpse for a new generation of artists and designers. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule (e.g. “The adjective noun adverb verb the adjective noun”) or by being allowed to see only the end of what the previous person contributed.

I chose to take the exquisite corpse from the forms of drawing and word into the 3D realm. This would bring those situated in a tense, stress-ridden environment into a space where they are able to concentrate on something other than work. It is to bring back calm through creativity to our design generation.  

Lurid, squishy, with the scent of nostalgia, plasticine suggests an emotional reversion to a child-like state. From this workshop and the feedback given, it is apparent that this particular sensory play triggers memories of a life without pressure; colourful, senses of very early classroom settings, full of fun and play.

I put on a workshop in which groups of four would come into a room and sit at a diamond of tables; participants sat facing away from each other in groups of four. Each table was a different station; one for the head, torso, legs, and feet. There would be four iterations of each piece at the end of the session, and thus, four whole figures.

They had five minutes to build the allocated part, and when they had finished, I collected the pieces. Then, they rotated around to a new station and made a different part. After visiting all four tables, I allowed participants to put together a body from four randomised pieces.

Here, the exquisite corpse is presented to a new generation of artists and designers as a craft/making-based activity that has, through feedback, encouraged and allowed participants to take a break from their structured, potentially boring/stressful work routine.