Exquisite Rorschach Game

Within the variety of art historical Surrealist games I find that I am most drawn to the visual aspects of the games; Exquisite Corpse and Decalomania (with reference to Rorschach ink blots). I think it would be interesting to combine these games together. Combining the games there is direct play with chance as well as automating drawing created from the ink images. The reason I believe this would be beneficial as a game is that when chance is used to create an image as it is with the concept of Rorschach tests many parts of that image will spark new ideas and we are able to find familiar shapes within the ink.

For example within a common Rorschach ink blot:

Specific to this image various people would find completely different shapes created in the ink. I see two sea horses and a puppy just to point out a few images I am deciphering in the ink.

The images that can be found or parts of shapes that are started are what I find so interesting about Rorschach tests. With this in mind I think pairing this exercise with the basic concept of the exquisite corpse game will create an especially interesting outcome.

Visual Exquisite Corpse Examples

The way I would use the two Surrealist games together would be to begin with the ink image. After the image has be created students will spend time deciphering the shapes they can find within the ink image. The use of the exquisite corpse concept comes into play with the students begin to draw or outline the shapes they find within the ink images. These drawings of the chance shapes that occur will be kept private so other students will not influence what their peers see within the ink. After students have exhausted the amount of images they can find within the ink blots, presenting what they have found will be extremely interesting for students to see what their peers have seen in the images of the ink.

This is an example of finding and image within the ink:

Using chance in the surrealist play alongside drawing of deciphered images will make this game more than just an individual experience, being able to show each other in a fun informal setting can open other students up to seeing things in new ways and become more comfortable with sharing work.

Images created in this process can be used to pursue larger work with examining a specific part of the ink image and what was deciphered within it.