Now & Again Magazine – Exquisite Corpse

This edition of Now & Again adopts the approach of the Exquisite Corpse, a collaborative art exercise in which drawings are assembled in sequence to form a complete composition. Each piece in the issue was created in response to the work before it, thus exploring how ideas flow through individual creative processes, and documenting how a single point of inspiration can lead to many other perspectives.

In this edition of Now & Again, the starting point is a photo of a floating Crocs sandal, which leads to three separate strands, each comprising works by three contributors. Reinterpreting the classic Exquisite Corpse exercise in which participants work together to depict a human body by drawing separate sections in turns, every piece in this issue has been inspired by and made in response to the work before it. We examine how the flow of ideas develops, the diversity of individual perspectives, and what this could mean for the creative processes driving artistic practice. What are we influenced by when discussing certain topics? How do we ensure originality when referencing other people’s ideas? And whom do we serve when we create?

Through this issue, the editors hope that you can recognise the dynamic energy that comes with collaborations between individuals, and also reconsider conventional approaches to formulating ideas — an alternative way of viewing things, gaining inspiration or implementing ideas in projects could quite possibly be a springboard to new and invigorating discoveries.