The Exquisite Book: 100 Artists Play a Collaborative Game

by Julia Rothman, Jenny Volvovski, Matt LaMothe

In The Exquisite Book, one hundred indie artists play an ingenious version of the Exquisite Corpse drawing game. Each adorns a page with artworkhaving seen only the page of the artist immediately prior and using a single horizon line to connect the two. Some continue the "story" quite literally while others build on the previous page in more fanciful ways. This astonishing volume's format is as unique as its content, with each of the book's ten chapters residing on a ten-page accordion pull-out, allowing readers to view the art continuously. With an illustrated foreword by Dave Eggers, and art from such luminaries as James Jean and Jill Bliss, this charming book is, simply, exquisite.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art Design

144 pages, Hardcover

First published August 25, 2010

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book based on The Exquisite Corpse game, wherein like "Telephone," an artist builds each new entry on only the last entry he or she can look at and respond to. The idea is to build on what little you are given. Extend the idea, maybe. As one can imagine, if you ask artists to do this who are aesthetically in sync, everything could be very consistent overall. Or you could just invite artists with a range of aesthetic approaches and it could get crazy. This particular 100 artist occasion seems more like the latter, where connections between pieces are not so obvious, where there are a variety of styles.

I think I might have preferred more continuity in this particular occasion, because the effect is a little jarring, and the quality of the art varies widely, but if you are playing Telephone or Exquisite Corpse, part of the fun is the surprise, I guess. You get what you get, and the process is the point. I liked the q and a with some of the participating artists that opens the book. I liked the concept and the idea of art-as-game more than how this actually worked out. I liked the "accordion" book construction, fun. I like the approach to art, even among adults, as play, as collaboration (vs. the idea of serious and tortured solo "genius").

[jessica ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a stunning book! Every piece of artwork was crafted so beautifully, it was fun to see the connections between each page while all the artists individually shown so clearly.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Often gorgeous -- and what's not to love about unfolding smooth pages and looking for that thread of horizon. But so very few artists played the game in its pure, most exciting way: studiously continuing the lines begun by someone else. David Heatley nailed it!
Oof -- the introduction -- a plodding spoiler; makes me say, let's get on with the show.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun artistic collaboration. Love books with pages that fold out - gives me a sense of tactile play as well as a delightful feast for my eyes.

[Julie-Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the idea but I kept thinking the sections were marked wrong, it seems the artists just did their own things rather than even remotely following the prompts.

[Matt Mazenauer · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you had handed me these 100 panels shuffled with no text I would have preferred it. A frustrating, bordering on infuriating experience. A disproportionate amount of effort is spent describing the gimmick of this book that is entirely absent from remainder. Beautiful art laid out side by side, with the occasional correlation from one piece to another; in this regard it fails to deliver on its premise. If instead you billed this book as "we found 100 striking pieces of art from a variety of artists and puzzle pieced them together so that sometimes arbitrary lines from one piece connected with the next" even then you'd wish there were stronger correlations. Perhaps 5 artists made wonderful collaborative pieces with their previous piece, and each time it happened it reminded you of how great this work could have been if they had provided better direction and editorial guidance.

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful art, really cool concept, but a poor execution. I loved the idea of this book and was so excited to finally get a hold of a copy. But when I went to open it, I was disappointed. The pictures, while lovely and well-done, are disjointed and it make it difficult to surmise any sort of “story” that was intended by the artists.
One thing that could imagine with this book, however, is making a game out of creating a story. The pictures are rich and rather detailed, so I could see that being fun. That said, that wasn’t what I had expected this book to be, so I sadly will only give it 2 stars.

[R. K. Saenz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just thoroughly enjoyed the whole process behind this book, first and foremost. You can read the foreword/process before or after, but don't skip it.

This format of this art book is incredibly fun and helps with the process of finding/creating the narrative within the art. Just a lovely and enriching experience all the way through.

Also, if you read the "how to read this book" and don't listen to it, I think the authors/artists would fully support that decision.

[Virginia Pulver · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful book and an excellent exercise in creativity! I would love to participate in such an activity as this. Such a variety of interpretations! I enjoyed the artist bios. They springboarded me to seek out more info on each of them. That was an enjoyable and insightful romp in the world of art and artists! I believe I will use the premise behind this book as a prompt with some of my artist friends. - Ginn, Crazy Chicken Lady in SC

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know how books like this wind up at the Dollar Store, but for my sake, I'm glad it did. This book is just as the title suggests: exquisite. A sheer and playful joy. Something the eye can look at a hundred times without seeing it all.

[Carly · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s rare to see artists have this much fun with imperfection, which is at the core of an exquisite corpse collaboration. There is less narrative than there is reflection of themes and artistic styles in the series of pieces, but it’s lovely and so much colorful fun.

[K McBride · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never heard of the Exquisite Corpse ... it looks like fun ... I'll need to get Susan interested so she will organize and event!

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I find much of the art underwhelming, and do not get how it tells a story. I found the accordion pages cumbersome.

[David Matheny · Rating 3 out of 5]

the book is a really cool concept for a art book but if it wasn't at my local dollar store. i probably wouldn't have purchased it.

[Susie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, i'm a little biased on this one since i'm one of the 100 artists who were part of this project! But not really! Read on!

The curators Jenny Volvovski, Matt Lamothe and Julia Rothman created a tight & mysterious schedule: each artist had two weeks to execute an illustration that corresponded to the work that preceded it. That means: follow the horizontal lines of the artist before you, continue the story, and move it forward image by image, artist by artist. (http://vimeo.com/15045308)

Some artists chose to echo the imagery of the panel before them, others so quietly continued the imagery that it's almost imperceptible that two pages were drawn by different artists, most used their own visual style to carry the narrative visually! Overall, it's a beautiful book and a fascinating concept derived from the fun surrealist drawing game called "the exquisite corpse." (A game I love and often have played as well)

A particular favorite part of the book is the introduction, well-written and analytical. The format of the book itself is quite ingenious: there are 10 accordion folds in the book, so you can extend the drawings to truly view them side by side. The accordion folds are printed on both sides, so be sure to turn them over or you'll miss a lot of the artwork (including mine)
The accordion folds are also suitable for wall art (as in - potentially desecrate the book and hang the horizontal panels on your wall) as the quality of the printing is crisp and beautiful.

A brilliantly executed and inventive project & book I am proud to have been part of!

[Dylan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the concept, but just like the writing of the surrealists it's very random to me. And the cohesion of the original surrealist exquisite corpse drawings were more direct. Yes, you can pull an abstract story and cohesion out of it, but my question is why such blindness between each piece, why not they see at least the entirety of the previous piece and not just a "horizon," if I understood correctly how the book was made. Also the accordion pages were more awkward then just having the pages flipped through regularly. It'd be interesting to see this concept applied to writing, with a little less blindness between the fragments.

[Michael Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great idea for a book. This is probably the most-played party game amongst me and my friends, and it is interesting to see what this variety of artists come up with. The design of the book is clever and serves the intentions of the art well.

I think my one complaint is that some of the artists seem to want to push their own agenda rather than actually being inspired by the previous piece. The most interesting entries are the ones that take elements from the previous drawing (other than just the horizon line), and continue on from there, re-interpreting them as they see fit.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title references the game/art that this book is based on: Exquisite Corpse. Some of the images are awesome and I would love framed prints of them. One is Mikel Casal's, which has this quote that I find relatable (mostly jokingly): "You Made Me a Mix Tape. Now You're My Boyfriend". Another is Henning Wagenbreth's Art Museum one.

I agree with the other reviewers who noted that several artists didn't really play the game correctly (as I perceive it.) It's often very difficult to see connections from one picture to another.

Entertaining to look at for a while.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a game that creative people play called exquisite corpse where different writers and artists collaborate on a piece of art. This book is a print version of that game. Using only a horizontal line and only being able to see the previous entry, a hundred creative types have played the game. The results are a thing of beauty.

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is neat, because art is neat. And collaborative art is even more neat. Every page has a horizon line that is used through the entire book... but every artist can only see part of the picture drawn before them, and they draw their picture based off the one before, or not at all. I love projects like this.

[Sarah T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5 rating.

A collaborative art/story book, what a great idea. :) There wasn't a single piece I didn't enjoy for some reason, and I liked how so many of the pieces, though vastly different in content, still managed to flow together so well.

Plus... lots of pretty colors and colors make me happy.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love the idea of this project, and it was executed really well. The artists in the book are all talented and the project is a unique one. I hated the experience of actually handling this book though, I don't think it is very reader friendly. It's an awesome project, though.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book talked this to a lot of older elementary school kids. Some of the art I think was not in their realm of "appreciation" yet, but I could be wrong. For sure, both teachers and students loved the concept. Still trying to figure out a way to build a program out of this.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

My family enjoys playing Exquisite Corpse with just paper and pen but this beautiful art book is in an entirely different, amazing league. Inspiring book! Would really enjoy doing something like this with friends.

[Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must for illustrators.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting idea and a beautiful book. It fits together in an impressive puzzle.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found it disappointing.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for beautiful books where artists collaborate together! I love to do the same "exquisite corpse" game with my kids too. They enjoy it.

[Trish Fibs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Nothing is better than when a bunch of artists get together to collaborate on a book!

[Chris Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting idea and book. My favorite illustration was the one by Chris Kyung.