Sat 7/18 @ 6 – 9pm
If you’ve ever played the old-fashioned parlor game Consequences, you know the zaniness that occurs from putting random, unconnected thoughts together.
In the game, players write a word or phrase on a piece of paper, fold it to conceal their writing and pass it to another player. That player then adds a phrase or word without knowing what the other player wrote. The results can be weird and oftentimes hilarious.
So, once upon a time, there was a group of Surrealist artists who played the game and it resulted in the sentence, “The exquisite corpse shall drink the new wine.” Interesting, right? But they didn’t stop there.
They took the game further and gave it an artsy twist. Instead of writing words or a phrase, one person draws a part of a figure (either the head, torso or lower body), folds the drawing and passes it to the next artist, who draws another another part of the corpse. Thus, the game became known as Exquisite Corpse.
You can experience this surreal, weird, wonderful game for yourself at Cleveland Print Room’s Exquisite Corpse fundraising party and silent auction on Sat 7/18.
Cleveland Print Room (CPR) founder/director Shari Wilkins got the idea via former Clevelander, now L.A.-based artist, Greg Stimac. Says Wilkins, “He showed me the Surrealist parlor game and I was hooked.”
For the fundraiser, CPR recruited over 40 local, national and international artists, who each work on three different pieces in a variety of mediums and styles. Unlike in the traditional Exquisite Corpse game, CPR allowed artists to create anything they liked — they didn’t have to stick to body parts.
“It is like improv for artists,” says Wilkins. “It is a way for artists to work off each other. The fun part is that we do not know what the other artists’ creations look like until each piece is complete.”
The results can be seen in 20 mural size drawings that will be put up for silent auction starting at $100, while the works created that night by local artists and creators in the live drawing portion will be completed and placed on the wall at $75 a pop.
But don’t just be an observer — create your own ECs at the event with others. Kids are welcome to do it too.
The whole event gives CPR, a photographic darkroom and dedicated photographic gallery, the chance to branch out into other mediums and kick off what will become their soon-to-be regularly scheduled spring fundraising event beginning in 2016.
Go unleash your Surrealist side and support an asset of the local art community. Admission is only $5 and kids 12 and under are free.
Cool Cleveland correspondent Sarah Valek studied art and writing at Ithaca College. After graduation, she came back to Cle and served two years as an AmeriCorps*VISTA with the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. She can be found on all sides of the city in pursuit of homeschooling activities for her son and the perfect soy latte. Contact her at CoolEditor@CoolCleveland.com or via Twitter.
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