Exquisite Poop: Blind Reproduction

Participating artists:
Alexis Duque
Lorra Jackson
Brian Elig
Blair Kamage
Carly Bodnar
Robert Scott
Joseph Materkowski
Samuel Bjorgum
Lauren Kolesinskas
Jessica Daly
David Hollenbach
BMIP (Babyhead)
Nick Musaelian

Participating writers:
Casey Plett
Chris Heffernan
Allison Moore
Kaitlin Heller
Adam Kavulic
Zane Hart
Matt Keeley
Amanda Spitzer
Jon Boulier
Ammon Ford
Maddie Drake
Josh Crowley
Jenny Bhatt

Normally, I'm not wild about illustration, but one current exhibition deals with it entertainingly. The show is Exquisite Poop: Blind Reproduction: A surrealist art and writing game, at a gathering of the tribes (through April 29). Despite its seemingly scatological title, it s a most stimulating exhibition, organized by Janet Bruesselbach, who in addition to acting as director of exhibitions at Tribes is an artist and illustrator herself. Her inspiration was threefold. First was the game that the French surrealists used to play back in the 1920s, Exquisite Corpse (or cadavre exquis ). In this game, three or four artists collaborated on creating a single figure, but each without knowing what the others had done (the first created the head, then folded over the paper, and passed it on to the next, etc.).

The second source is a party game that, according to google, has been popular in the U.S. since the 1990s, and is known as Eat Poop You Cat. This is a graphic version of Telephone, with a circle of players, as many as possible. Each writes a sentence or a phrase on the top page of a pad of paper, then passes it on the person next to her or him. That second person draws a picture suggested by the words that have been given, then folds it over so that the original sentence is hidden, and passes it on to the person on the other side of him or her. That third person then writes a sentence, summarizing the image, folds over the page to hide the sentence she or he was given, and passes it on again (the game continues until each person has their original message back, after which they are all opened up & hilarity ensues).

Bruesselbach's third inspiration was her experience of trying to describe art to Steve Cannon, presiding genius over the Tribes gallery, and also over its literary magazine, a gathering of the tribes. Until he was blinded by glaucoma at the age of 60, Cannon led an active life as author, teacher, performer & sponsor of various kinds of performances, at the Nuyorican Poets Café, just down the block from his East Village HQ, and elsewhere. At 76, he still manages his mini-empire, and gets out to big events more than most people half his age; not least he takes in art shows, accompanied by somebody who will describe to him the art on view. Bruesselbach, having done this, concluded that trying to describe art accurately might be an exercise in futility, and to explore this possibility she has dreamed up Exquisite Poop.

For it, 13 artists have created 13 smallish pictures (mostly painted works on paper, though there are a few drawings, photos & prints). Each picture has then been described by one of 13 writers---after which, the original 13 artists have all shifted around, and each has tried to paint a replica of one of the other artists work, based only upon the written description. The show itself (and its attractive little catalogue) combine each original painting with the text written about it, and then the resulting painting, so that one can compare the before and after and see how well the transposition has been done.

According to the catalogue, The resulting illustration of mis/communication varies from wondrous to farcical and demonstrates the impossibility of conversion. Wondrous to farcical, I agree, but I don t think all the conversions are totally impossible.