the history

Cadavre Exquis derives, in part,
from a game the Dadas played called
Little Papers, in which players composed
chance poems from randomly chosen
words*. Cadavre Exquis differs from the
original Little Papers in its use of visuals
as its essential, material element.

As children, many of us played this
game without realizing its roots.
The game I played went like
this: Fold a piece of paper into
three equal parts. The three sections
will, respectively, represent head,
torso, legs. Designate one end of
the paper as the top. Hand the first
person the paper on which they
will (out of sight of the other
players) draw whatever they
imagine "the head" to be in the
first panel. Lines from this
"head" drawing should overlap,
just slightly, into the second
folded panel. The paper should
then be passed to the second player,
who draws whatever they imagine the
"torso" to be in the second panel —
without looking at the previously drawn
head. The process repeats with the third, and
last, panel. Finally, the paper is unfolded
to reveal the result.


cadavre (digital) exquis
is a participatory work of art
that continues the visual investigations
of the original Cadavre Exquis vis-a-vis
the following multi-stepped process.

First, imagery of real-world elements reflective
of the three Dada-divided sections of the human body
(head, torso, legs) are generously gathered,
then sent to me, by willing participants.
Second, I assemble these visuals into
three arhythmically structured
image-streams, each representing
one of the discrete body sections,
i.e. head, torso, legs.
Third, each of these image-streams are
displayed on one of three separate
video monitors, wall-mounted as a vertical totem.
The streaming imagery thus becomes a singular display
of randomly-assembling, and disassembling,
anonymous bodies.

The piece loops endlessly, never once
re-creating the same visual meditation.

to participate

If you would like to contribute to this piece,
contact me by email or by snail mail, I will send
a kit to you with the following instructions:

Please use the enclosed camera to make
still photos or movies of anything you see that
reminds you of any of the following three divisions
of the human body – head, torso, legs.
Feel free to make images of anything that reminds you
of just one of these sections or of two or of all three.

I have enclosed the camera guides, for your use,
in-depth or otherwise. It is a simple point-and-shoot
that will make still images and movies. Please feel free
to make either. You may keep the camera for a month
or until your two 2 GB memory cards are full.
When you are finished, pack up the contents of the kit
in the box in which it came; attach the enclosed
return address label and postage; mail it.
There is no need to catalogue the images in any way,
but you may indicate which section or sections
of the body you chose to shoot; or you can send it back
without saying anything at all . If you say nothing,
I will add your images to the sections as I see fit.

Your name will appear in an alphabetical listing
acknowledging all who have contributed.

contributors (to date)
Edith Abeyta, Kanna Aoki, Annie Appel, Silvia
Askenazi, C. Jean Berchtold, Victoria Carey,
Bruce Ecker, M.C. Gee, Elizabeth Greene,
Tracy Grubbs, Brian Morris, Sawnie Morris,
Judy Myers, Greg Rowe, Rosanne Siino, Becky
Sloane, Todd Sloane, Pam Strugar, Carrie
Ungerman, Pam Walter

I look forward to hearing from you.
M.C. Gee