Exquisite Corpse Playing Cards
Playing card deck featuring 54 original works of art made in collaboration between 9-year old Samaya Snibbe and her father, artist Scott Snibbe. The cards were created using the exquisite corpse surrealist drawing game, where the artists fold a piece of paper into thirds and draw each part of a figure without seeing the other person’s art.
This Exquisite Corpse Playing Card Deck features 54 original works of art made in collaboration between 9-year old Samaya Snibbe and her father, digital artist Scott Snibbe. The cards were created by playing the exquisite corpse surrealist drawing game, where each artist folds a piece of paper into thirds and draws each part of a figure without seeing the other person’s art. When the paper is unfolded, the surprising figure is revealed.
Produced at the artists’ home over 9 months during the COVID crisis of 2020, this deck was originally created for friends and family and is now offered to the public in this limited edition deck of cards, collectible NFTs on OpenSea, and original drawings.
Samaya and Scott Snibbe creating Exquisite Corpse drawings for the Exquisite Corpse Playing Card Deck
Samaya with a finished Exquisite Corpse drawing “Quesadilla” Queen of Clubs
ABOUT EXQUISITE CORPSE DRAWINGS
The Exquisite Corpse drawing game was invented by surrealist artists Marcel Duchamp, André Breton, Yves Tanguy, and Jacques Prévert while hanging out at Paris’s Rue du Château in 1925. The artists were inspired by an old parlor game called Consequences where people take turns adding sentences to a collaborative story.
The surrealists expanded the Consequences game to apply to drawings by first folding a piece of paper in thirds. One person draws the head, folds over the paper, and then hands the paper to the next person who only sees a small part of the top drawing extending down into the middle third. The second person extends the first drawing into the middle third and then passes the paper to a third person to complete the lower third of the drawing. When the drawing is opened, there’s a delightful surprise to see the funny, grotesque, or provocative figure created by the artists.
Surrealists believed that games like these can unlock our unconscious mind and our creativity. Try making an Exquisite Corpse drawing yourself and see what surprises emerge from creating with your friends and family.
The surrealists who invented the Exquisite Corpse drawing game in 1925: Marcel Duchamp, André Breton, Yves Tanguy, and Jacques Prévert.
