Surrealism and The Exquisite Corpse

 

by Elliott King

 

In his 1924 Manifeste du surréalisme, the poet André Breton defined surrealism as a philosophical approach to life: “Surrealism is based on the belief in the superior reality of certain forms of previously neglected associations, in the omnipotence of dream, in the disinterested play of thought.” Unlike many of the so-called “isms” of art history, surrealist art is not a readily identifiable formalist category but the heterogeneous product of surrealists employing visual techniques as methods of expressing and ultimately liberating, in the language of the Manifeste du surréalisme, “the true functioning of thought.” Surrealist techniques differ across time and geography, but from collage to decalcomania to critical-paranoia, all in some way celebrate the unforeseen, astounding image – the “marvelous” result of “previously neglected associations.”

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Amongst the most popular examples of the surrealists’ enduring enthusiasm for automatism, chance, and collective experience is the cadavre exquis. Cadavre exquis, or “exquisite corpse,” was a game invented in 1925 by Yves Tanguy, Jacques Prévert, André Breton, and Marcel Duchamp, and it is usually played by three or four players. Traditionally, a piece of paper is folded as many times as there are participants, and in the writing variant, which preceded its visual equivalent, each participant writes a part of a sentence – for example, an adjective, noun, verb, or adverb. The phrase is revealed at the end as an unpredictable “poem” generated by multiple voices (the game’s name derives from one of its first products, “The exquisite corpse will drink the new wine”). According to Simone Kahn, when the game was first played, André Breton “shouted with joy”; even more so than with automatic writing, we were sure of getting an astonishing amalgam.” A drawing game followed, by which a piece of paper again is folded, and each player draws part of a figure and covers it up for the next player so that the final composition can be revealed at the end.

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Though their products may appear comedic, surrealist “games of chance” were not intended as mere recreations. Recalling the movement’s aspirations to “transform the world” (after Marx) and “change life” (after Rimbaud), these are poetic activities that deliberately uncover stimulating, perturbing visual and verbal combinations. As Louis Aragon described collage more generally, these hybrid figures are “machine[s] to destabilize the mind.”

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As we near the 100th anniversary of the Manifeste du surréalisme in 2024, it is worth celebrating the many ways surrealism continues to inspire through its unfettered exaltation of the unexpected. Surrealist vision productively challenges status quo systems and approaches to daily life. Particularly in a world only just recovering from a global pandemic (and remembering that surrealism emerged in the wake of its own Great Influenza pandemic that infected an estimated 33% of the population), the fragmented character of the cadavre exquis may invoke, for some, bodies broken by war and disease. However, these figures are also hopeful: As a collective process, they bring to mind the tangible physical connections that were impossible for many just a few years ago, as well as unforeseen and exciting new paths for shared exploration and adventure.

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Elliott King

Lexington, Virginia

November 2023

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